Viola da gamba Treble

label Marcel Pichler?, ca. 1730, in leaf form

Catalog 80 – Viola da gamba, treble, In Festoon – Form I – um 1730

One finds this very curious form in Italy, Austria, Germany, Holland and England.

This was bought in Spain around 1980. I bought a second one in 1998 in Bonhams London, thinking that it was a twin to the first one.

Many years later the dendrochronological investigations of the University of Hamburg revealed the astounding fact that the wood from the tops of the two instruments not only were from the same time, but also from the same tree! These are real twins!..

Dendrochronological analysis

Bericht über die dendrochronologische Untersuchung einer
Viola da Gamba, Diskant (Marcell Pichler?)

Die einteilige Fichtenholzdecke enthält 311 Jahrringe.

Mit der Vergleichskurve aus der Alpenregion konnten die Jahrringe zwischen 1729 und 1419 eingeordnet werden.

Somit stammt der jüngste auf der Decke vorhandene Jahrring aus dem Jahre 1729.

Die Fichtenholzdecke ist von demselben Baum gearbeitet, wie die Viola da gamba, Diskant (Zettel: Gianbattista Grancino) mit einem jüngsten Jahrring von 1712.

Somit kann bei einer minimalen Lagerzeit des Holzes von einem Jahr kann die Decke frühstens ab 1730 entstanden sein.

Prof. Dr. Peter Klein
Ordinariat für Holzbiologie
Universität Hamburg

Report on the dendrochronological analysis
of a Viola da Gamba, treble (Marcel Pichler?)

The one-part spruce front contains 311 year-rings.

With the comparative curve from the Alpine regions the year-rings could be dated between 1729 and 1419.

Therefore the youngest ring present on the front comes from the year 1729.

The spruce top comes from the same tree as on the Viola da gamba, treble, (label: Gianbattista Grancino) with a youngest Year-ring of 1712.

Considering a minimal time for curing the wood of one year, the front could have been made in 1730 at the earliest.

Prof. Dr. Peter Klein
Ordinariat für Holzbiologie
Universität Hamburg

Dendrochronology:

bass: 1729-1419

–

Body length	375 mm
Upper width	204 mm
Middle width	130 mm
Lower width	263 mm
Rib height	38 mm
String length	410 mm