Books › Violin tone and violin makers, 1916 › scan 229
Scan 229
Violin tone and violin makers, 1916
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 207. See the scan on archive.org.
1AND VIOLIN MAKERS
3supplied by the brothers Hill. The maker was apprenticed to Gaspar da Salò, and his earlier work is primitive looking and somewhat rough. According to the Huggins monograph both backs and bellies were at first cut on the slab. The violins of Gaspar da Salò, or such of them as have survived, seem to be usually of small pattern; those of Maggini, on the other hand, are usually of large size and may measure from 14 1/4 to a fraction over 14 1/2 inches in length of body; but according to observations made by the writer, there is reason to believe that he now and then made examples of somewhat reduced proportions. Be that as it may, the typical Maggini fiddle is considerably larger than an ordinary full-sized instrument. His practice was to double purfle his work, but several single purfled specimens are known. The sound-holes at his best period are finely cut and set somewhat slantingly in the belly, the edges being bevelled on the under side. The lower circles are somewhat smaller than the upper ones, but it is by no means certain that this feature was either originated by or entirely peculiar to Maggini, as has been asserted. The cutting of the scroll is peculiar, the turns being from a quarter to half a turn shorter than the ordinary number. In large numbers of continental and other forgeries, and in the common copies of Maggini violins, the process has been reversed and an extra turn added to the volute. The varnish is of fine quality, brown in early work, and golden with a tinge of red in the latest specimens. The outline of the body is bold, with short corners, and, in a typical example, the waist widens rapidly to the lower corner. The arching of the violins is very gradual, rising to about half an inch in the centre of the plates. There are, however, specimens, supposed to date from Maggini's middle
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