Books › The fiddle fancier's guide; a manual of information regarding violins, violas, basses and bows of classical and modern times, together with biographical notices and portraits of the most famous performers on these instruments, 1892 › scan 62
Scan 62
The fiddle fancier's guide; a manual of information regarding violins, violas, basses and bows of classical and modern times, together with biographical notices and portraits of the most famous performers on these instruments, 1892
6 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1violins. The varnish on the back is a little crackly sometimes, more like that of the elder Gand than of Vuillaume. His scrolls are also not unlike those of Gand père, but not nearly so powerful looking, and not so wide at the bottom. His varnish is a red, slightly inclining to purple. Tone fairly good, but decidedly nasal.
3Duke, Richard, London, 1754—1780. This is a magnificent maker. His outline is very pure—Amati or Stainer. The sound holes in the Stainer models are, curiously enough, not particularly fine, but those in Amati copies are better. The latter are cut a little narrower at the top than at the bottom turn, which gives them a slightly quaint look. His scrolls are very fine, and the tone of his instruments is of a most exquisite character. I consider that he is quite entitled to walk in line with the Italians of importance in everything except his varnish, and that chiefly excepted with regard to its colour, but not in regard to its pâte. It is of a beautiful soft, but dull brown, with little or no life in it. Richard Duke violins are, it hardly need be said to experienced fanciers, very rare indeed.
5Dodd, Thomas, London, 1786—1823. This was a clever man who did not make violins himself, like so many others, about his time. He employed first-class men to deliver them to him unvarnished. Among these workers were such as Bernard Fendt and John Lott, both men of the highest skill. Dodd varnished the instruments himself. It is a nice oil varnish, but nothing to set the temse on fire. The instruments, such at least as were made by Fendt, are splendid examples of violin making. Dodd professed to be "the only
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