ORIGINAL STRAD ?

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 May 1931, Page 10

ORIGINAL STRAD ?

NORTH ISLAND “FIND.” A violin which/t has been suggested is an original Stradivapus, nearly two centuries old, is reported to have been discovered at Colyton, a village near Feilding (says the “Wellington Post”). It is stated that the violin has every characteristic tjiat can be ascribed to an instrument made by the great Antonio Stradivari of Crexppna, a small town in Lombardy, North Italy. The label bears the date 1732, and the master’s mark —a Maltese Cross above the initials A.S., within a double circle. Although its history is somewhat obscure the owner, Miss Winifred Wales, is able to trace the existence of the violin for the last 100 years. According to a letter to hand Miss Wales states that “it was brought from England to New Zealand by a certain Mr. Dunkerton during the ’eighties” and fell into her father’s hands 30 years ago. When it was cleaned some jtpn years ago it was authoritatively stated that the instrument was over 150 years old. The varnish is “of a very fine variety of amber” darkened considerably b'-r a long period of misuse, but still presenting that glass-like appearance which is an attribute peculiar to the old masters. The violin has retained a particularly fine tone, to liave suffered little through the handling it has received. Hoyever, even with these credentials it is pore than possible that the violin is merely a copy of one of the violihs made by Antonio Stradivari. There are at the moment , more than a million violins in existence all duly ticketed with the Strad. label, and this label has, in the majority of cases, nd significance whatever, except to indicate the model which the maker has followed in making his violin. Labels can be pasted in violins and removed at will, and it is not unknown where makers and have placed gen'uine labels in imitation violins.

Frequently, when an owner spies a Strad. label in an old fiddle it is concluded that the violin is genuine because the label says so. It is like hunting for a Jost diamond, or buried treasure, or a lost gold mine; it appeals to one of the most powerful instincts in human nature. •Yet the truth of the matter usually proves that the violin is an imitation —for imitations began as soon as the excellence of the Cremona violins was discovered —and an estimate that the violin is over 150 years old can really prove nothing in the absence of expert ppipipp. THE GREAT MASTER Antonio Stradivari lived from 1644 to 1737, and first tppk up residence at Cremona in 1666. This town was the noted centre of the time for music and art. For two centuries the violinmaking art flourished there, and its instruments found their wav all over the world. Stradivari became the pupil of Andrew Amati (1520-1577), founder of the great Cremonese school, and developed the art to consummation. Of the estimated 200 Q violins that h,e made during his life-time, barely fifty per cent, are accounted for, the remainder having been lost for all time or still waiting to be discovered in back street shops, tenement houses,' or other overlooked places.

Some Qf the prices realised for the genuine instruments are exorbitant and each year finds some new record figure readied. Thousands of pounds are now expended upon a Stradivarius or a Guarnerius (a violin made by a fellow worker to Stradivari, and believed by some to excel him); it is stated that over 20 years ago the exKaiser paid nearly £lO,OOO for a pair of Strads., and many times this amount lias been exceeded.

That the secret of the great masters’ ability to make faultless violins has been lost has often been debated, but one thing is certain: his recipe for the varnish which produced those marvellously rich amber tones or light reds, is destroyed, and one has yet to be found which will produce a varnish equal to those used on the Cremonese violins. It is for this reason that the varnish on a violin is a very deciding factor in the question whether it is genuine or not; not only the colour, but the texture and thickness. Caution is always needed in the advertisement that an original Cremonese violin has been found, Jiut one cau realise what possibilities lie behind the announcement that one of these instruments has been brought to light. It is not recounted whether New Zealand has ever before produced one such—-which, perhaps, is only natural, as it is a young country.