jacobsaunders

The survey of the Gewerbekammer Plauen reported that these Vogtländische Waren were supplied wholesale, starting at 18 to 30 Marks a dozen for “ordinare” violins, 30 to 144 Marks per dozen for medium quality, and up to 100 Marks EACH for the good ones. The parsimonious yanks generally bought the “ordinare” sort. The Chinese also make various qualities. Since the OP asks about the cheap ones, one should compare these “ordinare” ones with a Skylark, should one wish not to compare apples and oranges.

They should take it to Switzerland, so that the colleagues there can take the piss

The only change between the low-grade violins of the 19th. C and now, is that the old ones were made by hand from workers paid a pittance and modern ones with a maximum of machine use.

I would be quite happy with your original attribution, early Verleger, first part of 19th C. I presume that the linings and the nail in the top block are some hill-billy Australian repairs, also the person who fitted the fingerboard planing off the top of the peg box would earn him a thorough screaming at here

move the goalposts with somebody else

A personal letter written by Löwendahl himself perhaps

It is a later Dutzendarbeit with no major disabilities, but needs all of the set up renewed. Such an instrument in fully rdestored condition would retail at about €1300/€1500 incl. VAT here. To return it to new condition would cost about €600. If you DIY it to death, it won’t even be worth the $29 he payed for it. Is that pragmatic enough?

wreck it then?

I am certainly not the only forum member who gets sick of being asked to rescue what otherwise would have been a perfectly serviceable school violin, that someone has lived out his/her DIY fantasies on. It is cheaper to take it, as is, straight to a competent violin maker

You should realise that Löwenthal was a dealer/wholesaler, not a maker, and that Löwenthal instruments were made in Markneukirchen not Dresden. Since there is a large range of quality variations, your question is unanswerable

Nice that someone agrees with me for once. I agree with you re. the bow

The violin is about 100 years old, from the Markneukirchen area industry, and seems to be free of cracks. It would be worth repairing properly at a violin makers. I would charge you about €600. Ignore siren encouragement to do a DIY bodge.

Do you super glue nuts on? tut tut!

As an adult, one sometimes must admit that one doesn’t know where a violin comes from. This can only change, if one comes across an identical one with an original label. It certainly doesn’t allow one to dogmatically claim it to be from a particular “school”. I noticed as a young man, with such unidentifiable fiddles, that the Germans will tell you that it’s English, and the English will tell you that it’s German (without saying where in Germany). Since I was asked, I must say I am more of a German in this case, and would wonder if it wasn’t more Northern rural England, or Scotland. I think Mr. Various is mistaken in thinking it that old. I would expect mid to late 19th C. from a self taught amateur with some woodworking skills. One wonders about all those railwaymen and taxidermists in the Honeywell book

You will have to differentiate between 18th & 19th C. The big violas were more in the 18th C., and not just from here, also other places, for instance South Bohemia, Hallein etc. If you get one with an original neck, you will find that the neck is scarcely longer than a violin neck. I suppose they did their sniff chug chug part in the 1st position. In the 19th C. the violins got grottier and grottier, almost to the point of caricature, presumably ‘cos the Schönbacher were competing on price.