American (?) Beauty

[Dr. Mark]

2 hours ago, Guido said:

I think they might be marking traces for the cut-out. 

Maybe so.  The resolution isn't good enough to tell for sure. I was also considering that the chip near the end of the line/joint might have occurred during final shaping if the glue were weak or absent there - otherwise it's just a chip... speculation w/o a higher res image...

Since I use a knife and u-gouge or v parting tool to make my insets, I may try the two-piece method though just for kicks.

[Randall The Restorer]

On 9/17/2024 at 7:48 AM, jacobsaunders said:

Are the English 1s and 7s the only reason you speculate that it could be American? 

Handwriting is a personal choice and weak evidence of nationality.

As a 12 year-old I watched a British-made Second World War movie in which the German spy gives himself away by crossing his number 7 while scoring a game of bridge. The idea seemed prejudicial and narrow-minded to me - like a witch-hunt.

I am second generation Canadian with British and Irish grandparents. In the year 1975, a school teacher born in England in the 1920s taught me to cross my sevens and my zeroes and my letter Z to avoid confusion with other letters, numbers, or symbols. This was also common practice in the Canadian and American hospitals that I worked in. 

[Randall The Restorer]

On 9/17/2024 at 6:51 PM, Hempel said:

Since the inscriptions are written in English, American (or British) maker/assembler would be a valid point to start.  It's like that old adage medical doctors like to use, "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras (Hungarians or Russians)."

I am a medical professional (retired Respiratory Therapist) and sometimes the hoofbeats we hear ARE from zebras or a Pygmy Hippopotamus - that's why there are rare disease clinics and differential diagnoses.

In 1937 there were a lot of Hungarian and Russian and Ukrainian immigrants living in Canada and the USA. My grandparents and great-grandparents came from Lviv in 1907. Many of them were fluent in English. 

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains - no matter how improbable - must be the truth". Sherlock Holmes

[Randall The Restorer]

20 hours ago, Andreas Preuss said:

Dr. Wallace Belt where data approximately matches: born in 1857, became a professional maker in 1903, started making after WW 1 in Dodge Center.

Dodge Center is a small city in Minnesota, USA. Many Scandinavians immigrated to Minnesota. Many European immigrants to the United States of America chose to alter their names or had their names altered by immigration officials.

Dr. Belt could have been influenced by Scandinavian or other European approach to violin making.

 

[Randall The Restorer]

10 hours ago, Andreas Preuss said:

. . . the attribute of a self taught maker puts question marks . . .

Why do you say that, Andreas? You know that there are many self-taught, hobbyist or second career luthiers on this forum alone who have each  produced dozens of instruments of the highest quality.

At that point in time and space, the maker in question would have had a lot of time on his hands (especially in the long Northern winters) and ready access to excellent tonewoods. He certainly wasn't distracted by television and the Internet.

[jacobsaunders]

38 minutes ago, Randall The Restorer said:

 

I am second generation Canadian with British and Irish grandparents. In the year 1975, a school teacher born in England in the 1920s taught me to cross my sevens and my zeroes and my letter Z to avoid confusion with other letters, numbers, or symbols. This was also common practice in the Canadian and American hospitals that I worked in. 

good, the OP violin isn't Canadian then

[Andreas Preuss]

On 9/19/2024 at 8:44 AM, Randall The Restorer said:

Why do you say that, Andreas? You know that there are many self-taught, hobbyist or second career luthiers on this forum alone who have each  produced dozens of instruments of the highest quality.

At that point in time and space, the maker in question would have had a lot of time on his hands (especially in the long Northern winters) and ready access to excellent tonewoods. He certainly wasn't distracted by television and the Internet.

Right. Today you have easy access to get tutorials and the right tools(!) 

150 years ago this was different. Just by statistics the percentage of high level amateurs was pretty low. So it’s a question mark to me with the slim chance that it could be. 
 
150 years ago I see most amateur makers as encapsulating themselves in fantasy theories. Without distractions but also misguided by the many wrong gossips on instruments where a Stradivari labeled factory instrument becomes the real thing.