Melanie Woodcock plays John Constable’s cello at the Christchurch Museum in Ipswich. Photograph: Ali Smith for the Guardian.
A cello that once belonged to the renowned landscape painter John Constable is set to be played in public for the first time in a century, following an extensive restoration. Constable, celebrated for masterpieces such as The Hay Wain and View on the Stour near Dedham, was also an accomplished musician. His personal cello, commissioned in 1802, is believed to have been played by him in a local band in his home village of East Bergholt, Suffolk.
The year 1802 was a pivotal one for Constable, marking his declaration to become a “natural painter” and the acceptance of his first work at the Royal Academy, catalogued as “A Landscape.” The cello was crafted by John Dunthorne Sr, Constable’s neighbour, early mentor, and friend. Dunthorne worked as a plumber, glazier, and carpenter, but he was also a painter and a skilled maker of musical instruments.
The two men often painted together, taking their easels into the lanes and fields of East Bergholt. Their letters reveal an enduring friendship, with Constable updating Dunthorne on his progress in the London art world. In 1799, Constable wrote that he had been accepted into the Royal Academy Schools, adding, “I hope by the time the leaves are on the trees, I shall be better qualified to attack them than I was last summer.”
A page in one of Constable’s sketchbooks features a sketch of two musicians, including a cellist—possibly himself and his instrument, art historians suggest. Small wooden figures, thought to have been carved and painted by Constable in his youth, are believed to represent singers from the East Bergholt church choir.
The cello entered the Ipswich Collection, owned by the local council, in 1942. It had been badly restored in 1926 and was no longer playable. Now, a century later, the Friends of Ipswich Museum have raised more than £4,000 to fund its restoration. Emma Roodhouse, a curator at Colchester and Ipswich Museums, noted that the instrument is recorded as having been made for Constable. “It’s remarkable in that it survives with all its fittings,” she said.
Roodhouse highlighted Dunthorne’s pivotal role in Constable’s life: “He’s the figure early on in his career that encourages him and he’s the one that Constable turns to and writes some of his most poignant passages about the fact that he’s going to become this natural painter. But, as a working-class man who’s self-taught, I don’t think his story is as widely known.” One contemporary was particularly patronising, remarking that “Mr Dunthorne possessed more intelligence than is often found in the class of life to which he belonged.”
Constable deeply valued their friendship. Dunthorne offered him a connection to his beloved Suffolk landscape, as reflected in a letter written in 1800. Constable wrote from London, pining for home: “This fine weather almost makes me melancholy; it recalls so forcibly every scene we have visited and drawn together.” Dunthorne outlived his wife, his four children, and Constable. He died in 1844 and was buried at St Mary’s Church in East Bergholt. His obituary in the Ipswich Journal remembered him as a man of great ability.
Roodhouse concluded: “As a self-taught artist and musical instrument maker, he is worthy of more than just a side note in Constable’s story.” The cello has been brought back to life by James and Sylvie Fawcett, expert restorers based in Suffolk. Cellist Melanie Woodcock, who grew up locally, has been playing it during its restoration. “They have done the most fantastic job. It sounds better than we could have hoped for. It’s a very rich, lovely sound. I grew up locally. Constable’s very much of this area. Although he was an amateur musician, it’s incredible to think that it was his instrument and that he could have played it,” Woodcock said.
Woodcock will perform on the cello at a public event on 10 June, alongside readings by author Susan Owens from her new book on Constable. The instrument will then be displayed at Christchurch Mansion in Ipswich from 17 June until 4 October as part of the year-long Constable 250 festival, celebrating the 250th anniversary of his birth.
