Musical Instruments at the South Kensington Museum: N.—Viola di Bordonedetails

A Violoa di Bordone is a stringed musical instrument played with a bow. It is a sort of viol with cat-gut strings, but with a second, parallel set of metal strings. The metal strings are not played with the bow directly, but resonate in sympathy with the catgut ones. It is also called a Baryton. This one, from a collection in the Kensington Museum, has six cat-gut strings with tuning pins on the side, and twelve metal “drone” strings.