Roth-Sihon Double Bass Mute: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This mute was made by Roth-Sihon in Germany, 1970s. It is a double bass mute made of metal with rubber tubing. Accessioned with original information card. This mute can be kept behind the bridge on the instrument and slid into place when needed.

This item was sold by Albert Moglie (b. Dec. 16, 1890, Rome; d. June 9, 1988, Washington DC), who operated a violin shop in Washington DC for 65 years from 1922 until 1987. At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to Antonio Sgarbi; he then worked under Luigi Enbergher, Giuseppe Rossi and Rodolfo Fredi, all of Rome. He later was a student of Hippolyte Sylvestre in Paris and Leandro Bisiach in Milan.

Albert Moglie came to America at the age of 24 to work for the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, first in Cincinnati and then New York City in 1916. By 1917 he had established his own shop in New York at 1431 Broadway. He moved to Washington DC in 1922.

Moglie enjoyed a fine reputation in Washington as a violin restorer, and is especially remembered as the caretaker of the Gertrude Clark Whittall Stradivari quartet of instruments at the Library of Congress, an association that began in the 1930s and lasted more than 50 years. This string display unit was from the Moglie shop.

The Smithsonian, National Museum of American History, Archives Center houses additional information on the life and career of Albert F. Moglie:

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1970s
• Object Name: bass mute
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Physical Description: rubber (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 1 7/8 in x 3 1/4 in x 2 in; 4.7625 cm x 8.255 cm x 5.08 cm
• place made: Germany
• ID Number: 2018.3081.156
• catalog number: 2018.3081.156
• nonaccession number: 2018.3081
• Credit Line: Gift of Albert F. Moglie and Lorette M. Moglie
• 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.