• Sign. Antonio Bertolini
• Dubrovnik, 1790
• 45 cm x 60 cm
• wood

This is a very rare specimen of a single-row diatonic harp with hooks (handles) built next to each string. The body, i.e. the soundboard has a simple design and is relatively small, with a curved neck which is provided with 34 metal pins for strings and 6 metal hooks by which the B and F tone strings are raised in pitch by one semitone. The neck features a coloured floral decoration cut in relief. The square soundbox has 6 perforated rosettes through which the sound comes out. On the inside is the signature: Antonio Bertolini fecit Ragusa 1790. Bertolini was a violin player in the Rector's Orchestra in the Dubrovnik Republic of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as a famous composer whose compositions are today kept in the Little Brothers Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik.

Copyright MDC & Carnet
design NOVENA, Zagreb