Cittern. Culture: German. Dimensions: Height: 24 7/8 in. (63.2 cm)Width: 9 5/16 in. (23.6 cm). Maker: Joachim Tielke (German, 1641-1719). Date: ca. 1685.The bell-shaped cittern was a specialty of the city of Hamburg and is properly referred to as the Hamburger Cithrinchen. It was a fashionable instrument from about 1650 to 1750 from which time several examples survive. This particular example is lavishly decorated with ebony foliate decoration on a white ground. The cypress belly has three rosettes made of parchment and showing traces of an original green pigment. The pegbox has the head of a Moorish king. Citterns are plucked stringed instruments, related to lutes and guitars, but strung with metal strings which produce a brighter and louder sound than gut strings. The cittern also has inlaid metal frets, as opposed to tied gut frets on lutes and early guitars. Players of the cittern use a plectrum to pluck the five or six courses of strings. Primarily a folk instrument that contin