Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Smith
I will probably have a bit of set-up work to do as usual once this bass comes in. It's inflight from Europe and scheduled to arrive early next week. Then the fun begins!  |
Due to concerns of this possibly being a national treasure, the Customs officials 'rejected' the shipment in lieu of better paperwork and some fees
if the Papers were to fly. I was informed earlier this week that the Bass was re-packed and ready for flight once again.
I have the Airway-bill now and plan on picking it up early next week from customs.
Studying this Lion-head a bit further, I realize it is most likely the Lion-head of the Bohemian coat-of-arms. There have been various coat's of arms for the Bohemian region but up until the early 20th century, it was fairly the same for about 8-9 centuries,
1198–1918 from a Wiki page I found. Perhaps it was this specific Lion carving that raised their eyebrows. The slightly forked tongue sliding out between the teeth is quite detailed as compared to other lion-head carvings I have seen. This is the 3rd Lion-head I have owned now. The 1st was early 20th century, 2nd is early 21st century and this 3rd one probably from the 19th century but once here, we will examine it closely and make sure it's not older. So, I have now owned Lions-heads from 3 different centuries.
The Bass itself looks a bit more Germanic than Czech but the German Bohemians or rather Bohemian Germans are probably responsible for this instrument. I estimate it to be from the Saxon region that neighbors the most western part of Bohemia where
those two cultures have been merging since the string instrument got its bow and before.