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Lute

Lute

(Italian, 1856–1940)
about 1885
Object PlaceMilan, Italy
Medium/TechniqueWalnut, copper, vellum
DimensionsOverall: 40 x 8.1 x 142.1 cm (15 3/4 x 3 3/16 x 55 15/16 in.)
Credit LineMarshall H. Gould Fund and Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund
Accession number2007.352
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsMusical instruments
Description
Carlo Bugatti is best known for his highly stylized and individualistic furniture, which often incorporates Gothic, Moorish, and Oriental motifs. This lute incorporates ideas from various types of Asian string instruments. It is likely that it functioned as an objet d'art, used as room decoration, rather than as a played instrument. The painting on the circular belly of the body was executed by Italian artist Riccardo Pellegrini, who frequently collaborated with Bugatti.
ProvenanceBy 1889, Mrs. John (Mary Elizabeth) Crosby Brown, New York; 1889, gift of Crosby Brown to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; 1996, deaccessioned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art; 1998, sold by The Metropolitan Museum of Art to Jack Hirshhorn, Brooklyn, New York; 2007, consigned by Hirshhorn to Steve Uhrik, Brooklyn, New York, and sold to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 27, 2007)