American bass viol
Benjamin Crehore
(American, 1765–1831)
about 1800
Object PlaceMilton, Massachusetts, United States
Medium/TechniqueMaple, pine, ebony
DimensionsLength 121.5 cm, width 42.4 cm (Length 47 13/16 in., width 16 11/16 in.)
Credit LineGift of Charles Crehore Cunningham, Sr.
Accession number1976.156
ClassificationsMusical instruments
InscriptionsPrinted label: Baseviols / MADE AND SOLD BY / Benjamin Crehore, / IN MILTON; manuscript label: First / American Maker / about 1785; manuscript label: Repaired and par- / tially restored by / Joel R. van Lennep / Boston 1975ProvenanceBefore 1925, Mr. W. Ropes; 1925, sold by Ropes to Charles L. Crehore (b. 1867) (great-grandnephew of the maker), Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts, who purchased the instrument under the advisement of Henry F. Schultz, a former employee of Elias Howe and Company, Boston. After 1925, Lucy Clarendon Crehore (b. 1871), sister of Charles L.; before 1976, by inheritance to her great-nephew, Charles Crehore Cunningham, Sr., Williamstown, Massachusetts; 1976, gift of Cunningham to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 14, 1976)
