Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

A video capture device, fitted with an endoscopic probe – made by Moritex – has enabled the UK’s Royal College of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum Conservation Department to authenticate a rare early 18th century cello.

In a recent project Chris Egerton, a musical instrument conservator rediscovered a rare early-18th Century cello in the village church of Berkswell, Warwickshire. The instrument had been in the possession of the church since it was made in around 1720 by the London instrument maker, John Barrett, but had been lost from public knowledge.

To enable authentication and provide detailed internal inspection of the instrument for conservation work a state-of-the-art endoscopic inspection system was selected for the project.

The Moritex Palmscope fitted with flexible endoscope enabled the authentication of the neck joint as an original feature of construction – which is extremely rare.

Detailed microscopic examination allowed assessment of pest damage to the internal surfaces and structures, the discovery of a previously unknown surface treatment inside the cello and close examination of the condition of old repairs.