Guido

Looking at the photo above I can see what you mean. But the blocks are of one piece - there is no joint running down the surface facing the inside of the violin. In the photo above there is also a line continuing in the direction of the lining. I think they might be marking traces for the cut-out.

Don't you think it could be English? I'm starting to like that idea. Btw, I checked and pretty much excluded Australia.

Thanks Andreas. I love that kind of reasoning. I find it fun and I'll end up learning something new and unexpected in some otherwise useless rabbit hole. I too excluded French and German and all that goes with it, which is A LOT! I can't turn up any of Belt's work, but I would doubt that the violin goes back to a self-taught career changer (unless they are a dentist ;-) It really looks rather professional. So with the lack of signing the instrument by name (unless it's the B....) and the tagging of the fingerboard to belong to a certain violin, I'd rather speculate to a larger workshop setting. Along the lines of: the violin had a generic Lewis and Son shop label and was made by one of their workmen. The label was removed by a dealer who wanted to avoid the confusion with the imported trade violins usually bearing such a label. There is, btw, a very clear outline of a former label in the colour of the wood. I'm attaching a picture.

Here is a 1930 from London. Similar downstroke to start the 3. Been flicking though my copy of "The British Violin" a few times, too, but not much is represented in the book from the relevant time.

Yes, I have some hopes here, but couldn't decipher. There are also a couple of dots, which could make this initials; but then again, it seems to continue in lower case after the B.

Indeed it could be anything. Scandinavia or South America, Eastern Europe. In fact, when I initially got the violin I was mostly looking towards Eastern Europe, but mainly the "Strad copy" and "1" and "7" makes me favour the US as an hypothesis. The frustrating thing is that the violin has distinctive features in spades, for instance the central half cut pins or the way the linings are let into the corner blocks (which I have actually not seen quite like that anywhere else). Another thing I forgot to mention is that the internal surfaces have had some sort of sealer applied, which is quite noticeable in the photos as it tends to stay away from gluing surfaces.

LOB is 356

Mostly, but also the "Stad copy" seems of an English speaking origin. Do you think it could be from England?

Bump. If this is American, it's probably neither an import nor folk art. Shouldn't our American colleagues be all over this?

The through-neck would indicate they bought the whole violin (probably in the white) from Schoenbach. The rib joints and corner overhang don't seem to fit well into the picture tough, unless they filed them back substantially.

Nice old violin around 1800 or a little earlier, probably from Mittenwald or a related school. That would include Austria... why are you asking specifically about that?

I'd think it's a French trade bow from Mirecourt.

Think I found the manual override

You are right about my photo skills. The more light I shine at the violin the more the iphone adjusts the expose and produces a dark picture.

A Saxon trade violin around 1900. Nothing to do with Klotz or Mittenwald at all. Curious if it's a little oversized? Many with this label are.

Had this violin for the better part of a decade; on and off looking for comparables w/o success. A quality piece of kit, internal mould, willow blocks and linings, half-cut pins, the works. Inscriptions lead me to be believe it might be American, especially the way the numbers 1 and 7 are written. The inscription under the fingerboard reads: no.112 // 1937 // Strad copy The inscription by the lower block I have not figured out yet. Maybe initials as there are also two dots. Any ideas who may have made this would be much appreciated.

The seller says it’s a fake. If you can’t put your trust in what the seller says you shouldn’t buy.

The saddle cut into the lower rib is also an earlier feature. The seemingly good condition and shiny varnish might be distracting from the actual age at a casual look. I’d agree with 1860-1880.

Who's got the scroll carved to the very bitter end with the deepest throat? Here is my entry.

Yes, seems to be a typical Mittenwald Verleger product second half 19th century. What it's worth depends more on the circumstances of a transaction than on the violin itself in this case. I note this has been set up at close to zero cost and with close to zero effort so it looks playable but isn't. This is what one usually sees when violins are sold on ebay (or comparable) by sellers who do this regularly; not what you would find in a shop. Here is a twin:

A basic German trade violin early 20th century. Labels in these are mostly random, or maybe according to the day of the week it was manufactured.

Never seen anything like it. Possibly particular to the maker of your instrument. See if you can find other examples there. Looking at the overhang of the back plate in your photo: maybe a creative amateur/self-taught maker?

If you have a thin walled steel tube with the inside diameter to fit the screw, and the screw hole in the stick has some wear so you get the steel tube in there, you could form one end into a cutter, which might last long enough to cut away the soft brass eyelet. Alternatively, you could use a drill bit coming in from the back. Put some tape around it to protect the screw hole in the stick. I don’t think you can drill out the screw tip this way; but on a slow turn the drill bit might catch and give rotation to the broken off screw piece.

These are interesting questions. Maybe somewhat related: We take it for granted that Tarsio has rights to the photos and info in the archive, especially where they took the photos themselves. But wouldn't or shouldn't the current owner of an instrument have a say? I.e. could a current owner of an instrument request all info (or at least photos) to be removed from public access?

I was hoping to generalise (as one never can) for Mittenwald and related (or I should have said Fuessen diaspora), which would include Vienna. In fact my first example with the point is a Geissenhof. I'm aware the square end to the linings (like in my second pic) is how Stradivarius and many other would have done it, but in my few dozen observations on Fuessen diaspora in the wider sense, I've only ever seen points, hence the idea, which @Blank face shattered.