6/6 flat back Viola d'amore
Johann Benedict Wassern, 1707

The instrument below is from the muscial instrument collection of the Historical Museum in Basel, Switzerland, ex. Paul Sacher collection. It is an instrument with six playing strings, and six sympathetic strings. It shows the typical cupid head, as well as a rosette underneath the fingerboard and flaming sword shaped sound holes. The sympathetic strings are attached on the underside of the tailpiece, not far behind the holes for the playing strings.