Bow & Bridge

Laska, Joseph

1738–1805

As printed

  1. Old violins (1905)

    LASKA, Joseph. 1738-1805, Prague. Pupil of J. Kolditz; worked for best makers in Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, and Brünn; his violins popular in Bohemia, Saxony, and Poland.

    scan page 282, line 30See the scan

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    scan page 282, line 30

    1. LAPRÉVOTTE, Etienne. Mirecourt; 1856, Paris. Made good violins; beautifully finished; also guitars.
    2. LARCHE. Brussels, 1847. Dyed his fiddles with acids, with usual result of impoverished tone.
    3. LARCHER, Pierre. Tours, 1785. Pupil of Guersan, Paris, but work dissimilar; brown varnish of poor quality.
    4. LASKA, Joseph. 1738-1805, Prague. Pupil of J. Kolditz; worked for best makers in Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, and Brünn; his violins popular in Bohemia, Saxony, and Poland.
    5. LAUTTEN, L. W. Tyrol. One "fine and handsome" violin known.
    6. LAVAZZA (or Lacasso), Antonio Maria. Milan about 1700; Stradivari pattern; good varnish, pale red.
    7. LAVAZZA, Santino. Was working in Milan at the same time as Antonio Maria Lavazza.

  2. A dictionary of violin makers (1896)

    Laska, Joseph, b. March 18, 1738, at Rumburg; d. Nov. 30, 1805, at Prague. Was a pupil of J. Kolditz, later he travelled a good deal, …

    scan page 63, line 11See the scan

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    scan page 63, line 11

    2. Larcher, Pierre. A maker in Tours, 1785. He was a pupil of Guersan in Paris, but his work is very dissimilar; he used a brown varnish of poor quality. Label: "Larcher, Pierre, luthier de Paris, élève de Guersan, Grande Rue au Grand Dauphin à Tours, 1785."
    4. Laska, Joseph, b. March 18, 1738, at Rumburg; d. Nov. 30, 1805, at Prague. Was a pupil of J. Kolditz, later he travelled a good deal, working under some of the best makers in Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, and Brünn. In 1764 he settled in Prague, and proved an excellent workman, his instruments, violins, altos, violoncellos, violas d'amore, and mandolines were especially liked in Bohemia, Saxony, and Poland.
    6. Laurent, Louis Sigismond. A maker in Paris about 1773-90. He worked at the sign "Au Cytre Allemand." In a theorbo with yellow varnish was the label: "Laurent luthier passage de Saumont, rue Montmarre près l'égout à Paris, 1774."

  3. A dictionary of violin makers (n.d.)

    Laska, Joseph, b. March 18, 1738, at Rumburg; d. Nov. 30, 1805, at Prague. Was a pupil of J. Kolditz, later he travelled a good deal, …

    scan page 65, line 11See the scans: 65, 65source record

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    scan page 65, line 11

    2. Larcher, Pierre. A maker in Tours, 1785. He was a pupil of Guersan in Paris, but his work is very dissimilar; he used a brown varnish of poor quality. Label: "Larcher, Pierre, luthier de Paris, élève de Guersan, Grande Rue au Grand Dauphin à Tours, 1785."
    4. Laska, Joseph, b. March 18, 1738, at Rumburg; d. Nov. 30, 1805, at Prague. Was a pupil of J. Kolditz, later he travelled a good deal, working under some of the best makers in Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, and Brünn. In 1764 he settled in Prague, and proved an excellent workman, his instruments, violins, altos, violoncellos, violas d'amore, and mandolines, were especially liked in Bohemia, Saxony, and Poland.
    6. Laurent, Louis Sigismond. A maker in Paris about 1773-90. He worked at the sign "Au Cytre Allemand." In a theorbo with yellow varnish was the label: "Laurent luthier passage de Saumont, rue Montmartre près l'égout à Paris, 1774."
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  1. The violin: its famous makers and their imitators (1909)

    LASKA, Joseph, Prague, born at Rumburg, 1738,

    scan page 327, line 9See the scan

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    scan page 327, line 9

    2. KRAMER, H., 1717, Viol-maker.
    3. KRINER, Joseph, Mittenwald, 1786.
    4. LASKA, Joseph, Prague, born at Rumburg, 1738,
    5. died 1805. Worked with J. Kolditz.
    6. LEMBÖCK, Gabriel, Budapest, 19th century.
    7. Maker; also known as a repairer of old instruments.

Named in 4 books printed between 1896 and 1909. Read by software from scans of those pages, not yet checked by a person against the page. Entries from 4 books stand under this name, and the software judged them likely the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record.

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Details and sources

Record note

Not established: that is this record’s honest state, resting on one thing alone — A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1896); Old violins (1905); The violin: its famous makers and their imitators (1909), naming this maker and nothing more. Entries from 4 books stand under this name, and the software judged them likely the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record. No claim beyond what is printed there has been invented here. If more can be said, write in and tell us.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
Laska, Joseph, b. March 18, 1738, at Rumburg; d. Nov. 30, 1805, at Prague. Was a pupil of J. Kolditz, later he travelled a good deal, … reported1
Places and dates of work
Laska, Joseph, b. March 18, 1738, at Rumburg; d. Nov. 30, 1805, at Prague. Was a pupil of J. Kolditz, later he travelled a good deal, … reported1
Places and dates of work
Laska, Joseph, b. March 18, 1738, at Rumburg; d. Nov. 30, 1805, at Prague. Was a pupil of J. Kolditz, later he travelled a good deal, … reported1
Places and dates of work
LASKA, Joseph. 1738-1805, Prague. Pupil of J. Kolditz; worked for best makers in Dresden, Berlin, Vienna, and Brünn; his violins popular in Bohemia, Saxony, and Poland. reported1
Places and dates of work
LASKA, Joseph, Prague, born at Rumburg, 1738, reported1
Born (date and place)
Born 1738. As printed in the cited source: “Laska, Joseph, b. March 18, 1738” reported1
Died (date and place)
Died 1805. As printed in the cited source: “Laska, Joseph, b. March 18, 1738, at Rumburg; d. Nov. 30, 1805” reported1

How the pages were read

7 of the 7 lines here were read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words), not by a person looking at the page image. 3 of them rest on a section heading above a list of names, not on a trade word printed on their own line: “A DICTIONARY OF VIOLIN MAKERS.”, “DICTIONARY OF VIOLIN MAKERS”, “German Makers”.

Notes

  1. Read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words, or a typed transcription), not by a person looking at the page image. ↩

The books behind this record

This record draws on 4 sources. Each is listed below with how it was read, because a claim read from a photo of the page is stronger than one read from machine text.

  1. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai.machine textcited for 3 linessource record

    scan page 65, line 11

  2. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol1899stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol1899stai.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 65, line 11

  3. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London ; New York: Novello, Ewer, 1896). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai_0. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai_0.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 63, line 11

  4. Haweis, H. R. (Hugh Reginald), 1839-1901, Old violins (Edinburgh, Grant, 1905). archive.org, oldviolins00hawe. https://archive.org/details/oldviolins00hawe.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 282, line 30

  5. The violin: its famous makers and their imitators (1909). archive.org, violinitsfamousm00hartuoft. https://archive.org/details/violinitsfamousm00hartuoft.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 327, line 9