RESONERA MERA!

Svenska fioler med resonanssträngar

This was originally a viol (viola da gamba) but was later converted to a cello. It contains a label with the text "Johannes George Mothe, en Engelholm, Anno Christij 1751". I have no photos of the instrument but you can find it in Kulturens (a museum in Lund) yearbook from 1937. Mothes viols are similar to Rönnegrens instruments. The lion head is quite similar and the intarsia looks almost the same. This cello has a specific shape with some extra curves of the ribs.

Johan Georg Mohte

Johan Georg Mohte, 1690/1695-1765, was the first in a family of luthiers in Ängelholm, Skåne. He was born in Dresden in Saxony in 1690 and probably joined the Swedish army while Karl XII was stationed there after the treaty of Altranstädt in 1706. In 1707 the army marched out from Saxony to start Karl XII:s Russian campaign which ended with the defeat in Poltava 1709 after which the king fled to the Ottoman Empire (Moldova) and the rest of the army surrendered in Perevolotjna and all the soldiers ended up in imprisonment in Siberia. Mothe and other prisoners were released after the treaty of Nystad in 1721 and Mothe joined Arwit Rönnegren and a few other soldiers (Johan Engelberg and Johan Kringelberg) to Scania in May 1722. Mothe applied for citizenship and claimed he had learned to be a luthier during the years in Siberia and asked to be able to establish a workshop in Ängelholm. It is not known who taught violin making to Mothe but it has been assumed it is someone connected to Joachim Tielke in Hamburg due to the similarities in style.

Johan Georgs son Johan Jörgen was granted priviledges for luthier work in 1748 and he had a son called Önnert who practised violin building in the 19th century. Johan Georgs son in law, Jacob Hellman was also a luthier in Ängelholm and Carl Johan Broberg (Gothenburg) and Hans Severin Nyborg (Örkelljunga) were also apprentices at Mothes workshop. Two gambas, a violin from 1745 and at least two but probably four Double-deckers made by Johan Georg Mohte have been preserved but there are no known instruments by his son or grandson.

NameKulturencellon
TypeViola da Gamba
LuthierJohan Georg Mothe
Year1751
OriginÄngelholm, Skåne
Found inKulturen, Lund, Skåne
Playing strings4
Sympathetic strings0
External linkExternal link
Other instruments built by Johan Georg MotheMohteEdvinMohte 2KulturengambanAngeredsfiolen
Other instruments with edge intarsiaMohteEdvinMohte 2Arwitgamban M285MeyergambanKulturengambanAngeredsfiolen
Other instruments with a lion headTuppenKarlhamnsfiolenElvisBulanGöteborgsfiolenEdvinSödlingTielkegamban M2475JamtlifiolenBostongambanKulturenfiolenArwitgamban M285DubbeltulpanenTrippeltulpanenKulturengambanAntikrundanfiolenAngeredsfiolen

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