Guido Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 Hello, first post, beware. I have a violin made by "D. Johnstone". It was his fiddle No.9 made in 1904. I'm not so much after a discussion of the violin, but rather the maker. I don't even know the country. The violin is well made of nice wood, scroll ok, purfling poor, varish a bit odd. I suspect an amateur and maybe no-one has ever heard of him... I got the violin in Australia, but the previous owner didn't know where it came from. Any clues appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron MacDonald Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 The thistle suggests a Scottish connection but he is not listed in Rattray's "Violin Making in Scotland" nor in Henley or Dilworth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted March 18, 2017 Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 Pictures of the violin might give more clues about the maker. If it is amateur work then you are unlikely to get more info here but if more professional then guesses could be made about where he learned (or was learning) his trade. Branding under the button like you show would have been fairly common in Britain for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRT Posted March 18, 2017 Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 FWIW, there doesn't seem to be a relevant entry in Alan Coggins' book on Australian violin makers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted March 18, 2017 Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 The "narrow white" purfling suggests it came from Markneukirchen-Schönbach, despite the Scots name and thistle on the label. Every joiner in the British Empire had a name stamp like the one below the button. So it seems we need to discuss the violin to know more about the maker... which requires more pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guido Posted March 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 I think we can rule out Markneukirchen, even the bottem end dutzendarbeit violins would be, well,... more consistent. Here are some pictures by the dozen. Again, I thinnk the scroll is not too bad; almost hard to believe that scroll and purfling whould have been done by the same person. Some corners are acceptable, other look like a train wreck gone purfling. The varnish has a yellow undercoat and a red overcoat, the latter seems to be very uneven on the top and altogether missing on the back. Also it looks like the bridge was put on before the varnished was cured. I guess it might have been a long and UV-less winter in Scotland when this fiddle was made. The bridge marks also look to be a bit far forward for my taste. The violin has a remarkably high arching, in particular the back - not sure the pics do it justice. But not of the Stainer type. It's more gradually rising over the length of the body. The back reminded me of a JTL Compagnon from about the same time. The violin has four rather neat and small-ish corner blocks and looking in from the end pin hole I could read DJ written on the soundpost. Istn't that what a proud amateur would do? When you look at the pics don't be afraid to state the obvious - that's what I usually miss :-) I couldn't even pick the model in this case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guido Posted March 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 I can't believe no-one would have seen any of the at least 8 other violings of this prolific maker Anything else to report on similarities (or not) with Scotish violins around 1900. I wouldn't have a clue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan slobodkin Posted March 20, 2017 Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 Obviously an amateur maker of which there were many in the eras before televisions and radios. The purfling stock would have been available mail order from most music stores and would almost certainly have come from Germany or France. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted March 20, 2017 Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 Agreed. Martin has often mentioned the Scottish carpenter-luthier trend in the late 19th. C. It's hard to see the scroll and neck-root being by the same hand, at least for me. Johnstones are more likely to be Duncan than David or Daniel. Don't know if that will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalcrombie Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) I have a fiddle by the same maker. On the label it reads. David Johnstone. No. 6. 1904. I do not have a thistle on mine I have a Rose. Back of fiddle stamped D. Johnstone. Edited February 17, 2018 by Dalcrombie I misspelt a name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guido Posted February 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 On 17/02/2018 at 5:13 AM, Dalcrombie said: I have a fiddle by the same maker. On the label it reads. David Johnstone. No. 6. 1904. I do not have a thistle on mine I have a Rose. Back of fiddle stamped D. Johnstone. Hey, that's great! Do you know anything about him. I'm glad your varnish looks better. Probably someone has messed with mine. And how does the instrument sound? Mine is still as posted before without set-up somewhere midfield on the to-do-later list. Can you post some more pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzupe Posted February 18, 2018 Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 Wow, 9 and 6, pretty amazing co'winkydink, well whoever he is, he's smiling ,as you guys have brought him back to life while you speak about him, if only for a little while. Where ever and whoever you are, you made it Johnstone, you carved your name in the tree and it's still here after all these years . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blank face Posted February 18, 2018 Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 I have an amateur made fiddle from the English midlands using the same bought in purfling, the varnish appears to be similar, too. Another example that this was widely used outside the Markneukirchen area. I rememberthat somebody (Jacob?) once mentioned the name of the british importer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlecollector Posted February 18, 2018 Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 Could be this person (no mention of violin though) but again could be anyone, as there were hundreds of amateur makers who sprung up after Heron-Allens book came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobsaunders Posted February 18, 2018 Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 2 hours ago, Blank face said: I have an amateur made fiddle from the English midlands using the same bought in purfling, the varnish appears to be similar, too. Another example that this was widely used outside the Markneukirchen area. I rememberthat somebody (Jacob?) once mentioned the name of the british importer. I referred to the wholesaler Rushworth & Dreaper in Liverpool, where people could buy anything from an Organ down to a strip of purfling.. Some makers bought whole parts from them. Job Arden of Wilmslow, Cheshire springs to mind, who seems to have bought the necks & scrolls there, which can put a spanner in the forensic detective work, if you are not careful. There were other firms of course. I can well remember going to places like Thibouville-Lamy in the Clerkenwell Road (which dad always called „Tiddle-Lamy“) as a little boy, where they had every bit of violin-making paraphernalia one could possibly dream of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vathek Posted February 18, 2018 Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 Corners are really square Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalcrombie Posted February 18, 2018 Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 7 hours ago, Guido said: Hey, that's great! Do you know anything about him. I'm glad your varnish looks better. Probably someone has messed with mine. And how does the instrument sound? Mine is still as posted before without set-up somewhere midfield on the to-do-later list. Can you post some more pics? Hi. The varnish is not great. This picture shows it up far nicer than it is. I did try to load more pictures at the start but for some reason the system rejected them. I will try again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalcrombie Posted February 18, 2018 Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 Further to my earlier posting I will try to get more pictures to load. On my earlier post some would not load. How does it play I was asked. Well I am a complete beginner, only being playing for a year so I am no expert. A local music teacher who was tuning it for me said that it sounded fantastic. I bought this fiddle about 10 months ago from a local well known fiddler in the Highlands (Scotland). He was having a clear out as he has collected too many over the years. This Johnstone fiddle was bought for him by his wife about 40 years ago. The neck appears to be slightly on the long side. Still will not accept some of my pictures. I hope these ones that you can see will be of use to those who asked for more pics. You will also see the varnish is not very good on this one either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalcrombie Posted February 18, 2018 Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 14 hours ago, jezzupe said: Wow, 9 and 6, pretty amazing co'winkydink, well whoever he is, he's smiling ,as you guys have brought him back to life while you speak about him, if only for a little while. Where ever and whoever you are, you made it Johnstone, you carved your name in the tree and it's still here after all these years . Thanks for the lovely reply. It is like looking at old photos, it feels like you have brought that person back to life for a little while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzupe Posted February 20, 2018 Report Share Posted February 20, 2018 On 2/18/2018 at 12:29 PM, Dalcrombie said: Thanks for the lovely reply. It is like looking at old photos, it feels like you have brought that person back to life for a little while. Well, the way I look at it, you can;t take the money with you, but you can leave your legacy behind. Personally it's what I hope for more than anything else in this endeavor, that someone may love and take care of my children after I am gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted February 20, 2018 Report Share Posted February 20, 2018 On February 18, 2018 at 2:26 PM, Dalcrombie said: I bought this fiddle about 10 months ago from a local well known fiddler in the Highlands (Scotland). He was having a clear out as he has collected too many over the years. This Johnstone fiddle was bought for him by his wife about 40 years ago. Someone by the name of Grant, perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rue Posted February 20, 2018 Report Share Posted February 20, 2018 Guess it wasn't The Rock either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted February 20, 2018 Report Share Posted February 20, 2018 7 minutes ago, Rue said: Guess it wasn't The Rock either... totally clueless here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rue Posted February 20, 2018 Report Share Posted February 20, 2018 37 minutes ago, Addie said: totally clueless here... Really bad joke...Dwayne Johnson (different spelling too)... You may boo me off the stage now...I leave willingly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Addie Posted February 20, 2018 Report Share Posted February 20, 2018 Johnston or Johnstone = from John's or St. John's town. Johnson = Son of John. i.e. BOO! Yours, Addie, related to the Johnstons of Elshieshields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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