Montage of iconography

Iconography Database

Contains iconography of bowed instruments from around the globe and all periods of bowed instrument history. This rich resource of historical evidence will be of great value to musicians, luthiers, bow makers, students, researchers, academics, and teachers. If you are involved in historical or period instruments, early music, living history or re-enactment, or in academic study of musicology, ethnomusicology, organology, morphology and of course iconography the database is here to support you.

Go to the Iconography Database

The BSIP Iconography Database is Open Access and free to use for everyone.
Anyone with a research interest may create a BSIP account (FREE!) to access restricted images.

920 CE - Present

Although bowing is believed to have its origins in Persia in the 9th century c.860 CE, the earliest iconographic evidence is from c.920-930 CE Iberia. The BSIP databases span all periods from the earliest evidence through to the present day. 

Global

Geographically neutral, the databases aim to provide global resources uniting the historical evidence of all continents.

Curated

Curators ensure that the data presented is of the best quality available, with references and links back to the holding institutions.

Archaeology Database

Until now these finds have been the subject of individual articles or have been mentioned individually in disparate places. This database brings together the known archaeological finds of (or potentially of) bowed instruments, bows, accessories, parts or fragments thereof, from around the globe, from the start of bowing to circa 1624 CE.

Go to the Archaeology Database

Just like the Iconography database, the BSIP Archaeology Database is Open Access and free to use for everyone.
Anyone with a research interest may create a BSIP account (FREE!) to access restricted images.
The same account may be used to access all BSIP databases.

Extant objects pre-1500 CE Database

There are very few extant bowed (or potentially bowed) instruments and bows pre-1500 CE (and no parts or accessories except archaeological finds). These objects are typically mentioned in isolation in books and articles. This database brings these together in one place. As with all BSIP databases, it is a global database.

Go to the Extant Objects pre-1500 Database

Just like the Iconography & archaeology databases, the BSIP Extant Objects pre-1500 Database is Open Access and free to use for everyone.
Anyone with a research interest may create a BSIP account (FREE!) to access restricted images.
The same account may be used to access all BSIP databases.

Improving Musicology Research

BSIP supports research, and encourages greater use of scientific principles in musicology. The digital age is changing how research is carried out and we believe that technology should be leveraged as much as possible.

Referencing

Globally unique references, with specification down to individual depictions/archaeological finds of bows, instruments their parts and accessories (and musicians depicted in iconography) provide a previously unavailable level of referencing! 

Immutable references and permalinks provide a resource you can rely on for years to come.

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Anon References

Floundering in the dark with "Spain, Unknown, 12th century, private collection" is now a thing of the past!  Even completely unknown works can be accurately referenced.

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Reproducibility

BSIP referencing means that a given dataset can be reproduced by anyone at a later date with a simple list of the source data.

In science, research should be reproducible. We believe that musicology should have the same practice. Researchers should be able to replicate the work of others to confirm their findings.

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Shared Dataset

Avoiding Groundhog Day! Instead of researchers trudging the same path collecting the same data we can concentrate our efforts on new material work instead of expending a vast effort in merely repeating the journeys of those who have gone before us.

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