Origin of a viola

[Johnny Sun]

Thank you for discussing and giving opinions about the violin in my first post. Here is another instrument I bought online, this time a viola from T2 of Tarisio. 

The pictures are from Tarisio, hope they are clear enough for you. Auctioneer described the viola as "A viola, ca. 1800", origin not given. There are two labels in the belly, one is for sure a fake Da Salo label, the other a repair label from 1861.

The viola is heavily beaten, however after a detailed repairing by a violin maker, it sounds quite nice!

Back length 41.5cm.

Thank you for sharing your opinions. 

 

[jacobsaunders]

My first thought would be something like Arlow in Brunn, but I'm not sure

[Dwight Brown]

I sort of like it. It’s a nice size too. The squared off shoulders give it the look of having been cut down but that could just be my imagination. I hope you enjoy it.

DLB

[Blank face]

3 hours ago, jacobsaunders said:

My first thought would be something like Arlow in Brunn, but I'm not sure

Some similarities to the example in Umeni Houslaru. From the construction and fully undercut scroll it doesn't look like "the usual", though it has a certain Bohemian appeal.

[jacobsaunders]

9 minutes ago, Blank face said:

Some similarities to the example in Umeni Houslaru. From the construction and fully undercut scroll it doesn't look like "the usual", though it has a certain Bohemian appeal.

Arlow, should it even be something like that, was, from a building technical point of view more the Viennese school than the Bohemian

[Blank face]

8 minutes ago, jacobsaunders said:

Arlow, should it even be something like that, was, from a building technical point of view more the Viennese school than the Bohemian

Agree, that's why I said "not the usual". Forgot also that Brünn is Moravia, not Bohemia. Just thatthe squarish shoulders were mentioned before. Or it was meant from the start as a copy of a cut down instrument, what you showed once before.

[Dwight Brown]

It’s funny that the squareness shows much more on the front than the back or at least it does to me.

DLB

[Wood Butcher]

14 minutes ago, Dwight Brown said:

It’s funny that the squareness shows much more on the front than the back or at least it does to me.

DLB

That is because the edges at the widest part of the bouts are heavily worn away on the front.

[Dwight Brown]

That makes sense. The viola I picked up on T2 lately turned out to be a great fit for the student I thought it would work for. It was the best three grand viola ever. It’s got him several gigs so far!

DLB

[Guido]

Prague is where I'd start my search.

It also had a couple of pegbox modifications that were more popular in Prague than elsewhere.

[jacobsaunders]

1 hour ago, Guido said:

Prague is where I'd start my search.

It also had a couple of pegbox modifications that were more popular in Prague than elsewhere.

I don’t find that a dreadfully helpful approach. First if we estimate the age as early 19^th C., we know who worked there then, and can proceed with the process of elimination, which would leave one with nothing