Carved violin

[Tigsol]

Hello Violin hunters.

I have a violin that I bought for its great sound (not the ornate carvings on it).  No masters of the violin world have yet to tell me where this could possibly have been made.  Your suggestions with rationale could be fun.  Here ya go.   It has a Januarius Gagliano label.  The scroll is rococo style while carved back is classical - maybe scroll was replaced.  If you own one like it, we should communicate as I get more information. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Amateur Dieudonne]

Is it just me or is everyone seeing tiny lil' piccys?

[jacobsaunders]

You're Pictures are all (unless I am doing spmething wrong) roughly postage stamp size.

[Blank face]

JTL in Mirecourt produced similar carved violins.

The scroll with the stepped pegbox looks strange at a violin, but with the small photos there's nothing more to tell.

[martin swan]

As far as I can tell from the tiny photos the carving is in the wood rather than applied.

i’ve only ever seen this on Chinese factory instruments.

[Tigsol]

Sorry for the small photos.  I am new here and trying not to overload the system.  I will try another method. 

 

 

[Tigsol]

Images have been removed. 

 

 

[Nick Allen]

Perhaps a feeble attempt at making it look "fancier"?

[Felefar]

Looks a bit like Gliga’s most heavily carved models.

[Blank face]

Either it's antiqued in a very skillful way, or it's too old to be chines or Gliga IMO. The scroll looks like taken from a viola.

[Violadamore]

I feel that " it's antiqued in a very skillful way",  and it reminds me of a posting here some years ago, of a violin supposedly made for Russian royals.

[David Burgess]

1 hour ago, Blank face said:

Either it's antiqued in a very skillful way, or it's too old to be chines or Gliga IMO. The scroll looks like taken from a viola.

To me, it looks pretty far from normal wear, or a highly skilled antiquing job.

The copying and antiquing level has risen to the point where I am sometimes unsure when judging competitions whether someone has made a splendid copy, or whether some genuine antique instrument has been entered to test the judging process.

[Violadamore]

Just now, David Burgess said:

To me, it looks pretty far from a highly skilled antiquing job. The copying and antiquing level has risen to the point where I am sometimes unsure when judging competitions whether someone has made a splendid copy, or whether some genuine antique instrument has been entered to test the judging process.

Yup.  If only the directors of the Ashmolean Museum had my sense of humor.................

[David Burgess]

1 hour ago, Violadamore said:

Yup.  If only the directors of the Ashmolean Museum had my sense of humor.................

For the most part, British and American senses of humor can cross pretty well.

But that can all go out the window if anyone on the other side of the pond runs out of their supply of hemorrhoid suppository inserts, or gets a severe wedgie, leading to unusual levels of crankiness.

[Tigsol]

Definitely not Gliga or Chinese.   People at Brompton's thought it was French - late 18th to early 19th century.  Someone else thought Hungarian, Bohemian, German, Flemish.. There are some repaired cracks.   The instrument looks in certain spots to have been stamped with some purposeful regular pattern of dots as if it was part of the ornamentation.  Scroll ornamentation is worn away on the back.  It could have possibly been revarnished but I need to check it with UV light to see if has a new varnish 

 

Edited January 24, 2018 by Tigsol
Wrong dates

[Tigsol]

That is the first suggestion I have had that the scroll was from a viola because of its odd size.  It looks like someone thought the scroll should go with the violin just because it was carved ornately.  An artisan at Bonham's described the scroll as rococco and the back as classical.  The floral pattern he thought was strange and provincial.  The Januarius Gaglianus label was possibly added after 1798 given the type of printing and paper. 

 

[Blank face]

Before this leads into higher levels of crankiness: More photos, please!!

[Blank face]

https://www.dhgate.com/product/christina-v07-carved-violin-4-4-advanced/386394104.html

[David Burgess]

5 minutes ago, Blank face said:

Before this leads into higher levels of crankiness: More photos, please!!

Photos of what?

[vathek]

For $500 US you couldn't even come close to getting something like that made, regardless of how good a player it might be.

[GeorgeH]

For $500 US you couldn't even come close to getting something like that made, regardless of how good a player it might be.

Not mine, but another example. Only the back is carved on this one. And only $500 U.S.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Meister-Geige-Violin-4-4-Carlo-Bergonzi-1741-Etikett-Mirecourt-aus-1820/323022769915

[Violadamore]

38 minutes ago, Blank face said:

https://www.dhgate.com/product/christina-v07-carved-violin-4-4-advanced/386394104.html

Yup.  Chinese.  No big surprise here.

[martin swan]

The violin looks new to me with some dirty antiqeing.

this kind of carving screams CNC .... either Reghin or China

 

[Blank face]

2 hours ago, David Burgess said:

Photos of what?

Tried to link to some. A matter of taste which level they reach.

 

1 hour ago, GeorgeH said:

Not mine, but another example. Only the back is carved on this one. And only $500 U.S.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Meister-Geige-Violin-4-4-Carlo-Bergonzi-1741-Etikett-Mirecourt-aus-1820/323022769915

This one was in the german Ebay some weeks ago, same headline and photos, similar description. It's a small world.

 

 

[Bill Yacey]

2 hours ago, GeorgeH said:

Not mine, but another example. Only the back is carved on this one. And only $500 U.S.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Meister-Geige-Violin-4-4-Carlo-Bergonzi-1741-Etikett-Mirecourt-aus-1820/323022769915

This looks very crudely done compared to the original poster's instrument; mind you, the picture sizing doesn't allow for much scrutiny of the detail.