Books › Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937 › scan 235
Scan 235
Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937
19 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. Printed page 209. See the scan on archive.org.
1as a chin rest, a violin tailpiece, a violoncello tailpiece, a banjo tailpiece, a guitar tailpiece, tools, and the products which they sell to jobbers.
3From its start the company has had expert violin makers making instruments to order as well as repairing them. For the last eight years Giuseppe (Joseph) Martino, an Italian who previously had his own shop at [address hidden], has been with the company as violin maker and repairer.
5O. H. BRYANT & SON
7Oliver H. Bryant, born in 1873, has made violins for forty-six years. From 1889-1910 he worked with Elias Howe Company and Oliver Ditson Company but was a member of E. F. & O. H. Bryant around 1905. He started in business independently in 1910 as dealer, appraiser, maker, repairer and expert. His present address is [address hidden]
9This firm's main business is as dealers and appraisers. As dealers they sold a Stradivarius to a Boston collector for $20,000 and another Stradivarius to a Los Angeles man for $35,000. They deal in violin makers' supplies and tools and carry a full line of accessories.
11Oliver H. Bryant is the maker of the "Cremona Art" violin and the principal of the Boston School of Violin Making.15
13Serge Koussevitsky's Amati Bass has been one of the many instruments repaired by them. Their manufacturing is work done to order. To date they have made 162 violins, 3 violas and 2 violoncellos and many bows. It generally takes two months to make an instrument including the varnishing for which tempered amber oil is used. The woods are maple and spruce. They followed earlier chiefly Guarnerius del Gesu, but now Allard Stradivarius is followed as a pattern, and the height and arching of the plates is varied according as power or quality is desired, depending on whether the instrument is for symphonic or home use. Their instruments have been played mostly by artists and professionals in all parts of the United States. A partial list of users is as follows:
14Efrem Zimbalist
15Fritz Kreisler, personal use
16Ysaye, on short tours
1815 The Violinist's Guide. American Violin Makers p. 23.
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