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Guitar, ca. 1630–50
Attributed to Matteo Sellas (Italian, ca. 1612–1652)
Venice
Wood, bone, various materials; L. 37 5/8 in. (96.5 cm)
Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of André Mertens, 1990 (1990.103)

This five-course guitar has a vaulted back with scalloped snakewood ribs and ivory spacers. The back of the neck is inlaid in a checkerboard pattern made of bone and snakewood squares. The peghead, which bears the engraved inscription "Matteo Sellas alla Corona in Venetia," is a modern replacement, as are the rose and bridge. The Sellas family (active in Venice during the seventeenth and early eighteenth century) was noted for its highly ornamented lutes and guitars.


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    Guitar, ca. 1630–50
    Attributed to Matteo Sellas (Italian, ca. 1612–1652)
    Venice
    Wood, bone, various materials; L. 37 5/8 in. (96.5 cm)
    Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of André Mertens, 1990 (1990.103)