Viola by Chanot and Lété Workshop, Paris, ca. 1819 Note: Click on any image below to see a larger image NMM 10395. Viola by Chanot & Lété workshop, Paris, ca. 1819. Chanot model. Guitar-shaped body without corners or overhanging edges. Board of Trustees, 2003. Technical Information Label: None. Top:  one-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium; prominent bear-claw figure. Back:  one-piece, quarter-cut maple with prominent, narrow curl ascending from treble to bass; ebony cap over entire button. Ribs:  two-piece, quarter-cut maple with prominent, narrow curl, angled to left; top and back do not overhang ribs. Edging:  edges not scooped; edges capped with rounded ivory over a pearwood strip. Arching:  full at center of top and back. Edging:  edges not scooped; edges capped with rounded ebony, continuing under back button; stained maple shim between back button cap and edge cap; edge caps finished with same varnish as body. Purfling:  ebony and bone. Varnish:  golden-brown with slight craquelure; similar to Chanot violin, NMM 5972. Fingerboard:  ebony; slight channel over neck position; separate piece from nut to 7 mm below nut. Nut:  ebony. String holder:  guitar-style ebony with carved saddle, wider at upper end; finished with same varnish as body; strings held by three ebony pins and one black-stained maple pin. Saddle:  ebony; rounded front and upper edges; set into top and edge cap; finished with same varnish as body. Endpin:  ebony; small; no neck or collar. Linings:  spruce; wide. Bassbar:  long, narrow; extends over and through ebony string holder, which is cut away between G and C pins to accommodate bassbar on inside of top. File marks visible on nut. Soundholes F-holes:  curved, slot-shaped, slightly wider at lower ends; edges lined in ebony and bone, the inside edge painted black. Pegbox and Scroll Head and neck:  maple with faint, narrow curl; reversed scroll, reeded, with deep, wide groove at center; back of pegbox flat; neck varnished. Pegs:  one ebony with small ivory eye, showing marks of peg turner; one ebony with small mother-of-pearl eye, showing marks of peg turner; one ebony with eye missing; one ebony with larger collar rings than other pegs; all with convex heads. Measurements   Total viola length:  622 mm Stop length (range of bridge positions visible on top): 196-250 mm Vibrating string length:  345-403 mm Original neck length (nut to ribs):  145 mm Upper bout width:  185 mm Center bout width:  121 mm Lower bout width:  231 mm Back length:  394 mm Rib height:  36-37 mm Go to Checklist of Chanot Model Bowed Stringed Instruments National Music Museum The University of South Dakota 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD   57069 ©National Music Museum, 2007-2008 Most recent update:   May 9, 2008 You are the 2,033rd visitor to this page sinceSeptember 4, 2007. The University of South Dakota Return to Top of Page