Name of Instrument: lute

Maker / Brand: (through Franciolini)

Stearns Catalog #: 1037

Country of Origin: Italy

Region of Origin: Europe

Instrument Category: Chordophone

Date of Fabrication: 17th to 19th C.

Location: CHO I 4

Description: This instrument comes to the Stearns Collection from a highly questionable source--Leopoldo Franciolini. Many Franciolini instruments are forgeries or interesting hybrids of original instruments and scrap wood. This Lute is a composite instrument with widely varying levels of craftsmanship. The bowl and fingerboard are excellently made; the table, rosette, and sound hole are less so; the pegbox is poorly made. The various components likely date between the 17th and 19th Centuries. It has eighteen fine wire strings in nine courses. The integral fingerboard shows evidence of once having seven gut frets tied around it. The neck surface is veneered with ebony and rimmed with ivory.

Research: Dr. Bruce Mitchell Smith and Stearns Staff