Measurements:
Upper
Bout: 22" 1/2
C
Bout: 16" 1/2
Lower
Bout: 29" 3/4
Rib
Taper: 6" 1/2 to 8" 1/2
Length of
Back: 47" 1/2
String
Length: 42" 1/2
Not a lot is known about Abraham Prescott. However, after combining on our collective research, we had enough information to create this overview of the history of the
Prescott Workshop. This listing will be updated as more details and dates come to be known. Strangely, we found more information researching Prescott Pianos and Organs than his Viols and Church
Basses.
Abraham Prescott (1789-1858) A young Abraham grew up just
over the Massachusetts border in in Deerfield, New Hampshire
where he often worked in his Uncle's woodworking shop. At an early
age it is believed he took up the violin and learned about the
construction of orchestral stringed instruments from his own
fiddle. It is thought he began making fiddles at a very early age
and soon switch to building viols for local churches and
musicians. These early "Deerfield" Prescotts show quite a bit of
individuality from instrument to instrument, as the young maker was
perfecting his craft and refining the models. Based on the great
variety of instruments made, along with the tales the instruments tell
us when examining the construction, Prescott was working without forms
and templates. His business grew and the addition of workers
(Dearborn Brothers) began Prescott as more of a manufacturer of
instruments. The Dearborn's had perhaps some better training and
the instruments made during this time have a greater sense of
refinement. In the early 1830's Abraham moved the workshop from
Deerfield to Concord, New Hampshire to expand his production and by the
mid to late 1830's began the construction of Melodians and eventually
Organs. By 1850 Abraham retired and left the business to his sons.
In 1858 the firm became The Prescott Brothers, and at that time,
the string instrument portion of the business was either sold off and/or
continued by the Dearborn Brothers under their own name, however the
production of orchestral instruments appears to have been over by the
1860s? In the 1870s the business became the Prescott Organ
Company but by 1886 Organs had been all but sidelined as the production
of pianos was in full swing. By the 1890s, the Prescott Piano
Company became the official name, with the listed officers being Willis
Thompson (President) and George D.B. Prescott (Treasurer). In
1896 the Concord facility was completely lost to fire and a new
workshop was begun in a warehouse close to the original workshop.
The company had a large distribution and dealer base throughout
North America but eventually was out of business around the 1920s.
