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Saltiri MDMB C 1733 (Esther Fernández)
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Cleaning psaltery MDMB 1733

This instrument is a psaltery MDMB 1733 made in the 18th century, featuring twenty-four quintuple string courses. Its soundboard, made of wood and trapezoidal in shape, is decorated with painted floral and vegetal motifs arranged as garlands, as well as with rocaille and stylized arabesques. It has two circular parchment rosettes acting as sound holes, decorated with the same polychrome designs as the soundboard. The resonating body, also wooden, displays similar floral decorations on the edges.

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The strings, made of brass and iron, are tensioned using metal tuning pegs. The instrument features one continuous bridge and another divided into four segments.

Before restoration, the psaltery was in poor condition: general surface dirt, tangled or missing strings, and the loss of many pegs and bridge notches. The polychromy on the soundboard showed scratches, likely from string friction, and there were decorative losses on the box, especially around the edges and corners. The gilded frame, particularly the front, was worn and scratched.

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Structural damage was also present, including a major crack across the soundboard, fissures in the sides and pegbox, and a split in the upper area of the tailpiece where it joins the moulding. One of the rosettes was broken, the other heavily deteriorated, each with different decorative designs. The instrument still retains its three original legs, although the red polychromy is partially lost.

Conservation-restoration work carried out:

  • Cleaning of the soundboard and wooden surfaces using deionized water, applied with cotton and a soft brush.
  • Treatment of the sides with 5% TEA (triethanolamine) in water, followed by neutralization.
  • Fixing of detached elements with reversible adhesives (Primal), applied with a syringe and fine needle.
  • String reintegration using nylon thread, preserving the original structure.

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Thanks to this intervention, the decorative details of the instrument are now more clearly visible, and its structural stability and long-term preservation have been ensured.