Viola D'Amore: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This viola d’amoe Viola d'amore was made by Georg Aman in Augsburg, Germany, 1705. It is made of a high-built two-piece table of spruce; two-piece back of bird’s-eye maple separated with an inlaid stained (black) wooden strip; ribs of similar maple; grafted maple neck terminated in a pearwood pegbox with provision for seven bowed and seven sympathetic strings and a blindfolded cherub’s head; semi-opaque reddish-orange varnish. This instrument has an original printed label:

Born in Bavaria in 1671, Aman worked in Augsburg and died around 1734. His instruments are usually rather highly built and are often seen with pearwood necks. This d’amore with a blindfolded cupid figure is typical of his work. Note also the original ornamental rosette inlayed into the table beneath the fingerboard.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1705
• maker: Aman, Georg
• maker: Aman, Georg
• Object Name: viola d'amore
• Physical Description: spruce (overall material)
• Physical Description: maple (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 32 1/4 in x 9 3/8 in x 6 in; 81.915 cm x 23.8125 cm x 15.24 cm
• place made: Germany: Bavaria, Augsburg
• ID Number: MI.095324
• accession number: 26484
• catalog number: 95324
• 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.