Books › A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments : together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments, 1875 › scan 42
Scan 42
A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments : together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments, 1875
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 26. See the scan on archive.org.
1genuine instruments and the imitations, is as three-fourths to one.
3One of the most striking characteristics, however, is this: all the Tyrolese violins are covered with a weak spirit varnish of a greyish yellow cast, which, in order to give it an appearance of age, is laid on very thin, and soon wears off; whilst the strong oil varnish on the old Italian instruments, however hard it may be rubbed, will remain firm and durable. This should be particularly observed by those who have not an opportunity of instituting a comparison between several violins. If they are only able to distinguish amber varnish from spirit varnish, no Tyrolese violin can possibly be palmed upon them for an Italian one; and it is with these Tyrolese instruments that people are most frequently deceived.
5I will here briefly enumerate the German makers who have imitated the form of the Cremonese instruments, but under their own names. Bachmann of Berlin; George Schonger of Erfurt; Jauch of Dresden; Hassert of Eisenach; Ernst, Concert-director, of Gotha; Artmann of Wegmar, near Gotha; Binternagel of Gotha; Fritzsch of Leipzig; Hunger of Leipsic; Ulric Eberle of Prague; Charles Helmer of Prague; and Schmidt of Cassel.*
7* Particulars of some of these makers, not having been given in the previous chapter, are here inserted from the 1828 edition:—
9"Fritzsch, of Leipzig, a pupil of Hunger, deserves to be ranked among the best and most skilful of the modern makers. Such of his instruments as are in good hands must continue to improve, as they are constructed with care and according to established rules. He has also highly distinguished himself as a repairer."
11"Frank Anthony Ernst, a Bohemian by birth, who took up his residence at Gotha in the year 1778, was esteemed not only as a celebrated violinist, but also as a maker of violins after the Italian model. In Prague, where he studied, he employed himself with violin making by way of amusement, and, on coming to Gotha,
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