Violoncello by Anton Posch
Vienna, ca. 1700
It is very rare to encounter a violoncello in the original dimensions. With a back of 81.1 cm, this violoncello is the largest in the collection, possibly the largest of all! As mentioned before, most large celli were cut down to the standard length of 75 cm. A fifth low string was added to the instrument, a GG or FF string (see the description in Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum, 1619), which allows the occasional playing of the 16’ range.
Body length 811 mm Upper width 357 mm Middle width 227 mm Lower width 450 mm Rib height 132 mm String length 735 mm