Dearborn New England Bass Viol: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This New England Bass Viol was made by David M. & Lyman Dearborn in Concord, New Hampshire, about 1831. This instrument has a table of pine in six pieces, back of slab-cut bird’s-eye maple in two pieces with added wings on the lower bouts, ribs of similar bird’s-eye maple with exterior ornamental figured maple linings, neck, pegbox and scroll of similar bird’s-eye maple, brass machine tuning mechanism inlaid into the pegbox walls, and orange-brown varnish. There is an original printed label inside the instrument:

WARRANTED BASS AND DOUBLE BASS VIOLS, MANUFACTURED AND SOLD BY D.M. & L. DEARBORN Opposite the American House, Concord, N.H.

A handwritten inscription appears in the margin of the label:

Made in about the year 1831, for G.W. Chamberlin of Maine who sold it to S. Chase in 1848 and given to S.H. Chase in the year 1860 and he gave it to Alice B. Chase Nugent.

David and Andrew Dearborn built instruments for Abraham Prescott in Deerfield and Concord. Lyman Dearborn briefly joined David as a maker in the 1840s. This instrument, which measures slightly larger than the Prescott shown here, retains most of its original features, including the distinctive machine-tuning heads. The edges of the ribs contain unusual moldings.

The modern term for this instrument is church bass. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, this instrument was also known as the American bass viol, New England bass viol, or Yankee bass viol. These church basses were used in churches and meeting houses to provide a bass line for maintaining a consistent key by New England congregational singers. The church bass was also used by popular singing groups such as the Hutchinson Family singers.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: ca 1831
• maker: D. M. & L. Dearborn
• Object Name: Viol
• Physical Description: pine (overall material)
• Physical Description: maple (overall material)
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 52 1/4 in x 19 1/4 in x 10 in; 132.715 cm x 48.895 cm x 25.4 cm
• place made: United States: New Hampshire, Concord
• ID Number: 1980.0331.01
• accession number: 1980.0331
• catalog number: 1980.0331.01
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.