Any ideas what this is???

[fiddlecollector]

Anyone any ideas what this is,i,ve had one suggestion but as i,m not familar with that particular school ,i,m curious what other think.

[bean_fidhleir]

It's quite nice-looking, whatever it is. Could the neck/head be later, do you think? It doesn't seem to match up with the body.

[fiddlecollector]

Hi, yes the head / neck looks later.

[pahdah_hound]

I am going to venture a guess, primarily based on the f-holes and corners, but I am probably wrong. I guess Saxon, late 18th century. Just my two cents worth. Add another 48 cents and you can get a newspaper.

Jesse

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[skiingfiddler]

I don't have an answer, but would say, in terms of models,

I would prefer this fiddle, which seems to be modeled after

Guarneri, to others we've seen, which were modeled

after Stainer. So, based on the arching and model, this

fiddle looks good to me in terms of a fiddle that will sound good.

[skiingfiddler]

PH,

If you're right about the German origin, and if it is a

Guarneri based model, it's probably later than 18th century,

ie, 19th or early 20th.

[fiddlecollector]

I,d guess that it plays well ,it was played/owned by a orchestra leader, whether that was before the back crack or not i don`t know but it was repaired in the early 20th century.

I believe the consensus so far is that the head is later,which i believe as it doesn`t have much wear and is reinforced by pictures of the back of the head (which i haven`t posted.The edges of the plates are rather thin so i,m guessing the violin is older, but i,ve also seen clever fake antiquing.The violin is supposed to be late 18th century possibly English according to the seller.

Heres a pic of the other side and a close up of the right `f` hole.

[bean_fidhleir]

Does it really seem a Guarneri model? The ff look more Stainerish to me, but perhaps it's the angle.

I'd also say 18th c., but mid ...and I'll only rate my opinion at a penny.

[bean_fidhleir]

Quote:

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the back crack

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Oh ugh, are those really post cracks in the back? I was hoping it was a trick of the lighting and my imagination.

[Richf]

Bob, did you get what I sent you about labels? Is this the same violin you were asking about then? Here's my 2 cents on these photos: the relatively short f holes and purfling close to edge remind me of southern Germany. The shape of the wings also seems to fit with that.

[andante]

I've seen some old Czech (Bohemian) violins that resemble this one to me. Perhaps early 19 th Century ? My penny...

[DougP]

The overall impression is that it is German. The damage to the top at the end of the tailpiece appears to be from fine tuners. The instrument may have had a blow on top, which dug the tuner(s) into the top and cracked the back.

[T_Rocca]

My guess would be German. late 19th Century around. With a neck and scroll of Dresden or Berlin school early 20th century,

[Richf]

I would say not later than early 19th century and probably earlier yet. I have no guesses on the scroll.

[fiddlecollector]

Hi Rich, no a different violin, i think its around 1790 -1800 but where from i don`t know which is why i put it on here.I have no preference about where i,d hope it was from but if it was older i,d be happier perhaps buying it, its only cheap but i don,t want another clever factory antiqued effort.Ive only really been stung once or twice which considering ive bought and sold around 500-1000 instrument is rather good, my worst buy was a clever Bohemian antiqued job which fooled me from pictures and the lying seller didn`t help.

Its mainly the `f` holes which are puzzling me.

[T_Rocca]

I do not think it is very very old personally according to the pictures. And the arch seems very flat according to the light reflection

[fiddlecollector]

T_rocca, you may be right which i why i`m interested what people think.I only have these pictures and what the seller says to go on.Someone else is certain its Scheonbach school ,which is one area i,m embarassingly lacking knowledge in.

[Richf]

One reason that I hold out for an earlier date is that the distress looks like it was earned. The fakers always put little scratches all over, in places that would never get scratched. And both the fakers and skilled antiquers always go for the wear on the shoulders and chin areas. This doesn't have those, and the back is relatively clean, too.

[fiddlecollector]

Also the rib cracks is something i only usually see in older violins

[T_Rocca]

Hi I didnt say that it is faked. It is old , just not to the very very old extend to what I think about the picture. The violin earned those scratches because it was not very well taken care of like more expensive violins

[skiingfiddler]

Sorry to hear about the back crack. That would dampen my enthusiasm for the fiddle.

[skiingfiddler]

Quote:

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Does it really seem a Guarneri model? The ff look more Stainerish to me, but perhaps it's the angle.

I'd also say 18th c., but mid ...and I'll only rate my opinion at a penny.

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You may be right. For my eye, the f-holes look closer to del Gesu, with the withered upper wings than to Stainer, who had full upper wings in Jalovec's photos.

The arching doesn't look high enough to be Stainer inspired, but my notion of Stainer arching may come from exaggerated Stainer copies.

The fiddle also looks broader through the middle bouts than I would think a Stainer copy would be. Maybe one shouldn't trust one's eye with photos but get measurement numbers instead.

[sweetmusic]

Quote:

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Anyone any ideas what this is,i,ve had one suggestion but as i,m not familar with that particular school ,i,m curious what other think.

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I think it's a violin...but don't quote me

[dogmageek]

Here is a fiddle that yours reminds me of. It's a Czech Amati copy. Click on the link(s) to view:

http://home.comcast.net/~kellerst/ims/fidd...i_000_0008a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~kellerst/ims/fidd...i_000_0012a.jpg

-dogma