England Guitar
Da Silva, Jaco Vieira
Lisbon / Portugal
PS. 1750
The English guitar was a fashionable instrument from about 1750, considered easy to play and tuned in C major, although the player would use a capo, much like a modern folk-guitarist, in order to change the key. The tuning pegs were often small metallic pins that could be turned with a watch-key, to keep the strings in tune longer. This instrument was made in Portugal, a country with strong trading links with England, and its peg box is decorated with a paper 'cameo' in imitation of a jasper ware medallion, a motif made popular by Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) from about 1770
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Materials and techn:iques:
Pine back, sides and soundboards, with pine and wood purfling (bordering); brass openwork rose, framed with mother-of-pearl,Openwork:Brief
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Physical d:escription:
(Cithera) inlaid with turtleshell and mother of pearl. Sounding hole of brass openwork, a miniature ivory head at the top. It has six pairs of srings and an ivory capo-taste by which the pitch could be instantly raised. Labelled inside as made by Jaco Viera da Silva of Lisbon, about 1700
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Dimensions:
Total length: 78cm, Body length: 34cm, Width: 31.5cm, Depth: 7.5cm
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Marks and inscriptions:
Jaco Vieira da Silva a fez em Lisboa no Prata da Alegria anno de 17 [no manuscript figures inserted] (1) Makers's mark 2) Signature; Portuguese; printed; printed) (Translation Jaco Vieira da Silva has made this in Lisbon at the Prato da Alegria in the year 17[no other numbers])
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