Books › John Askew, the Stanhope violin maker, 1914 › scan 47
Scan 47
John Askew, the Stanhope violin maker, 1914
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 29. See the scan on archive.org.
1with the gouge, neither sand paper nor the file having touched the wood (Morris p. 154).
3All fiddle makers were also particular as to the kind of varnish they used. The founders of the school of violin makers at Cremona, the Amati family, Guarneri, Antonio Stradivari, Carlo Bergonzi and other followers paid considerable attention to the varnish used on their instruments. Askew it is said, by those who knew him, to have studied the varnish question for twenty years and he used to put it on with his fingers using if necessary the palm of his hand.
5Our fiddle maker's early instruments were subject to a varnish known as "Askews" and it was a dead reddish colour. It is said that the recipe is lost and that he told his people that it was a trade secret. We find elsewhere that he got his varnish from an Italian book and that the schoolmaster and he used to mix it ready for use. The Cremonese varnish is said to be lost but it appears to have been well known and in general use, and mixed by pupils. In respect to varnish the Brothers Hill, after mentioning that the varnish has considerable influence respecting the tone of an instrument, say—"We think it
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