Books › The violin : how to choose one, 1893 › scan 28
Scan 28
The violin : how to choose one, 1893
6 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 24. See the scan on archive.org.
1sale; but Mr. Whitelaw's is quite equal to the Doctor's, if not superior, and is sold at 4s. per small bottle (enough for one violin). Mr. Rathbone's mixture is of a fine yellow colour, inclining to golden brown, and a violin which I had covered with it for experiment had quite an antique Cremona-like appearance; indeed, the resemblance to the varnish on Mr. Orchar's Amati was very striking. The price is 3s. (ample for one violin), or two bottles 5s. For varnishing a violin Mr. Rathbone charges £1. Mr. Gilbert Graham's varnish is of a fine golden yellow, and he sells it at 3s. per bottle, or, with a bottle of gamboge sizing, 4s. 6d., enough for one violin. At my suggestion Mr. Graham bought a common factory fiddle in the white and covered it with his varnish, and on testing it I found that the tone was really such as might have been considered good in a £10 violin. Mr. Bradley does not see his way at present to manufacture his varnish so as to sell it with a profit; but as it is a lovely mixture, and of various colours, I hope he may be able to strike up a partnership with some chemist with the necessary apparatus and buildings so as to get some return for his years of patient experimenting. Mr. Hardie sells his varnish, which is most successful in the yellow colour, at 5s., or he will varnish a violin for 10s. Dr. Clark's mixture, which is of various hues, from golden yellow to deep red, costs 1s. per ounce, three ounces being enough for one violin. This is a very beautiful varnish. Messrs. Caffyn's mixture, which is of a lovely golden colour, with great fire and beauty, costs 4s. per bottle (sufficient for two violins), or the makers will varnish a violin for 21s. No human being could wish for a finer violin varnish than this. All these varnishes are
3A PRICELESS BOON TO THE VIOLIN MAKER,
5as a violin covered with amber varnish charms the eye at once, and therefore sells more readily. What the maker of a violin varnish has to aim at is to produce a mixture which shall soften the woodiness of a new instrument—force it to vibrate in smooth lines, as it were—yet be so elastic as not to bind the violin in a tight coat or impede its vibrations, and at the same time beautify the instrument. That this can be done with real fossil amber I have clearly shown. I have also proved that amber varnish imparts a beauty of appearance,
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