Books › Violin tone and violin makers, 1916 › scan 272
Scan 272
Violin tone and violin makers, 1916
2 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 250. See the scan on archive.org.
1swept away. The Stainer model has been imitated by fiddle-makers all over Europe, both during his lifetime and since. Amongst the first to copy him were the Kloz family, and in Rome, Florence, and Venice his imitators have been numerous. In this country his influence was almost paramount for upwards of a century, and only by slow degrees was it ousted by the superior form of instrument designed by the Amati family and perfected later by Stradivari. Whether he ever worked in Cremona is at least open to doubt, and the evidence which has been adduced in support of the tradition is not sufficiently strong to justify its unconditional acceptance. He employed a varnish which proves to demonstration that he was conversant with the composition of that in use by the Amati, but it is clear from the work of other makers that there was no particular mystery attaching to the ingredients of Cremonese varnish, and his use of a preparation which is not distinguishable from it does not afford any unequivocal proof of his ever having been to Cremona. The general appearance of Stainer's instruments is familiar to all who take more than a merely passing interest in a violin; not because of the number of genuine specimens to be met with, but from the number of other makers who have copied him. As a workman he was of the first rank, but whether he worked in Italy or not, there is not a fiddle of his in existence which has the true Italian cut. The violins are usually about the size of the ordinary Amati instruments, but some of them are rather larger, and measure a full fourteen inches or a shade over in length. The varnish ranges in colour from yellow to brown; the red specimens are not often seen, but a few very handsome rose-coloured violins, of most beautiful workmanship, have survived. The wood of the backs generally
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