Books › The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904 › scan 135
Scan 135
The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 71. See the scan on archive.org.
1JACOB STAINER. THE HAWLEY STAINER
3apprenticed to the trade of organ builder in Innsbruck, but that as the work was too heavy for him, he abandoned it and took up the trade of maker of stringed instruments. And no doubt he served an apprenticeship with some worthy Lautenmacher of Innsbruck. Born in 1621, it is quite certain that he began to work in the shop of the organ builder by 1636, at the age of fifteen. Making allowance for the completion of a three years' term, he would have started on his career of violin-maker about 1639. As a matter of fact, the earliest reputed genuine specimen of his work of which we have knowledge is dated 1641. In 1645 Stainer was married to Margaret Holzhammer, who bore him eight daughters and one son. With the foregoing outline before us, it is difficult to find a period wherein Stainer could have gone to Cremona long enough to have obtained the advantage of instruction in the shop of Amati. If he were in the shop of Antonio Amati, it must have been before 1640, for Antonio's death, according to Lancetti, occurred in that year. It is quite certain that after Stainer married and had assumed the expense of a family he could not have done so. Whether he did or did not probably will never be known with certainty. This is unfortunate, for there are few questions more interesting than whether Stainer originated his model. At all events it has been generally conceded of late years that he was influenced in the form of model by the work of Antonius Hieronymus Amati. Innsbruck is not far from Venice or Cremona. A few days journeying across the Brenner Pass, a distance about equal to that between New York and Boston, would have brought one into the heart of the Italian violin center. It seems to us, therefore, that Stainer, being undoubtedly an enthusiast in his chosen occupation, may have taken short trips on several occasions into Italy for the purpose of familiarizing himself with what was being done there. That for any stated period he was a pupil of either of the Amatis we do not believe. If he were it would almost certainly have been mentioned on his labels, as was the custom with other makers. His varnish, to our mind, shows more conclusively than anything else that he must have been in close touch with Cremona, for that of his best period, 1650 to 1670, is identical with that in use in Cremona at that time. His model he could have originated, skilled handler of tools that he was, and imbued with high ideals of perfection in workmanship, but his varnish, so different in texture from that of contemporary lute or violin makers, in our opinion, he must have derived from a personal visit to Cremona. We say visit, for had his stay been a long one, it would have had a greater influence on his work. He was no doubt able to see many fine examples of Cremonese work in Innsbruck, Botzen, and other Tirolian towns, for they were on the direct route from Italy to points North, and there are evidences that a large trade in Italian violins was carried on throughout the Tirol. The church there, as in Italy, was a liberal patron of music, and the violin was a necessary adjunct in accompanying the voices of monks and priests in every service, as well as the basis of their orchestras, and, moreover, the establishment of no prince was complete without its band. It may be safely assumed, therefore, that Stainer had an intimate knowledge of what was going on in the violin world to the south of him, and no doubt he hoped to establish a school that would rival that of Cremona. In this project he succeeded to a considerable degree. His patronage came from patricians and plebeians alike. He was Hof-geigenmacher to the Archduke Ferdinand Charles, and at the same time made
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