Geneblue Posted January 22, 2023 Report Posted January 22, 2023 Hey, another violin I’m trying to figure out more about. The label on this doesn’t look like early printing to me, but it’s marked: David Techler Lintane fezit Romae anno 1703 Inside looks possibly artificially aged. However, this may still be pretty old. Appears to have a real neck graft. I know a neck graft is not always a indicator it had a shorter neck in the past. Thick violin, fairly pronounced arching. Sadly, back of peg head has been butchered, and someone half stripped the finish on the violin.
Wood Butcher Posted January 22, 2023 Report Posted January 22, 2023 A classic example of the usual, dating from the very late 1800s.
nathan slobodkin Posted January 22, 2023 Report Posted January 22, 2023 24 minutes ago, Wood Butcher said: A classic example of the usual, dating from the very late 1800s. With most of the varnish removed as well.
Geneblue Posted January 22, 2023 Author Report Posted January 22, 2023 3 hours ago, Wood Butcher said: A classic example of the usual, dating from the very late 1800s. Hey, thanks for the response. I’m trying to learn better on dating. How do you date it? I’d certainly say the label does not look like early font and is too crisp to resemble something from the 1700’s. It also doesn’t have sound post patches and other signs of having been around for 300 years. What are the nuances?
Wood Butcher Posted January 22, 2023 Report Posted January 22, 2023 This type of instrument was made in enormous quantities, and they come from a particular point in time. They are very distinctive, and most likely had an antiqued appearance when new. The very dark stain inside would suggest it was antiqued, but the varnish has been stripped off by a moron. The labels were taken from huge books supplied by local printing firms, containing thousands of facsimile labels. It probably had 25 pages of Tecchler labels in, basically they were just snipped out at random, and just stuck into the violins. It bears zero resemblance to an actual Tecchler instrument.
Michael Richwine Posted January 22, 2023 Report Posted January 22, 2023 To me, the biggest clue is the absence of upper corner blocks, meaning the lower blocks were only but in for cosmetic / marketing reasons, when the American export trade became very important, which to me indicates, 1880s to WWI.
Ron1 Posted January 23, 2023 Report Posted January 23, 2023 And, of course, the "grafted scroll" is faked with scratched-on lines.
David Burgess Posted January 23, 2023 Report Posted January 23, 2023 20 minutes ago, Ron1 said: And, of course, the "grafted scroll" is faked with scratched-on lines. It doesn't look that way to me.
Geneblue Posted January 26, 2023 Author Report Posted January 26, 2023 Wood Butcher, thanks for the insights. I’m working hard to learn more and feel like I’m progressing from the few instruments I’ve posted here or talked to repair shops about. Michael Richwine, thanks for the comment. That makes sense. By the way, enjoyed meeting you and playing some of your fiddles at the fiddlers convention. I need to get up there soon. Ron1, I thought so too at first. But upon very close examination I’m not sure. It does appear to have grain differences from the scroll to the neck, and you can see it on the top too, and inside the peg head. It’s been sanded pretty good and still shows. But in the case of this fiddle, it’s probably because of a broken scroll, not a neck replacement, based on the age estimates y’all are sharing.
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