Prescott Bass Viol or Violoncello: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This Bass Viol or Violoncello was made by Abraham Prescott in Concord, New Hampshire, around 1833-1840. It has a table of pine in four pieces; back of American maple in two pieces with fine irregular horizontal figure; ribs of similar slab-cut maple; plain maple neck, pegbox and scroll with grafted "ears" and brass machine tuning mechanism; opaque reddish-brown varnish; plain maple fingerboard painted black. This instrument has a printed label:

ABRAHAM PRESCOTT MANUFACTURER AND DEALER IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION Nearly Opposite the State House CONCORD, N.H.

This instrument retains the original neck, fingerboard and machine tuning device. The ribs are inlaid into a channel in the table and back and the f-hole wings are connected to the table. The brass tuning mechanism bears the brand stamp:

and is composed of three dies: (1) A. PRESCOTT (2) CONCORD (3) N.H. On the double bass (catalog #1981.0866), and the bass viol (catalog #MI.75.01), the same dies appear in vertical order, with CONCORD and N.H. on separate lines.

Abraham Prescott (1789-1858) was one of the most prolific of the bass viol makers. A self-taught instrument maker, he began his craft in Deerfield, New Hampshire, in 1809 and moved his business to Concord in 1831, where he continued to make violoncellos, bass viols, and double basses (and later reed organs and pianos) until about 1850. Prescott instruments are often fitted with machine-head tuning gears instead of more usual pegs.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1833 - 1840
• maker: Prescott, Abraham
• maker: Prescott, Abraham
• Object Name: Viol
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Physical Description: pine (overall material)
• Physical Description: maple (overall material)
• Physical Description: ebony (tail-piece material)
• Measurements: overall: 9 1/2 in x 18 1/2 in x 51 1/2 in; 24.13 cm x 46.99 cm x 130.81 cm
• place made: United States: New Hampshire, Concord
• ID Number: MI.66.492
• accession number: 272086
• catalog number: 66.492
• 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.