OLD VIOLINS

Taranaki Daily News, 23 February 1935, Page 22 (Supplement)

OLD VIOLINS

“STRADIVARIUS” LABELS. MANY OWNERS MISLED. Press references to old and valuable violins, especially to those by the master Stradivarius, generally provoke letters from readers who own, or know®of, instruments labelled with the famous maker’s name. Since the announcement that the late Archbishop Redwood had bequeathed his Stradivarius to St. Patrick’s College, Wellington, and the report that a supposed “Strad” had been discovered among lumber in a garage at Lower Hutt, several Auckland country residents have writen to the New Zealand Herald in the familiar strain. False hopes are repeatedly raised in those who, on peering into the interior of a violin through one of the sound holes, catch sight of a printed label bearing the words: “Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis faciebat Anno 17—.” The last two figures of the date are usually written in with a pen, and the label bears a small badge consisting of a cross and the letters “A.S.” within a circle. The fact of the matter (states the Herald) is that the label is rarely more than a device adopted by violin makers to indicate that an instrument is after the model of those made by Stradivarius at the particular period in his career to which the date refers. The device, which is a very old one, may in the past have been used disingenuously—for Stradivarius had dishonest imitators even in his own lifetime—and possibly still is today. However, in the factory production of violins, which is now a considerable industry, it serves a perfectly legitimate purpose. LABELS DISREGARDED. In ordering violins of this grade, dealers always specify the particular model that they wish to obtain, whether Stradivarius, Guarnerius, Amiti or any other established design, and the instruments are delivered bearing appropriate labels. Those found in German factorymade violins are stated to include as a rule the words “Made in Germany,” and others indicating that the instrument is a copy of the model named. Other European manufacturers, however, generally do not follow this practice. Experts, in estimating the age and origin of a viSlin, as a rule pay little attention to any label it may contain. They rely entirely upon the evidence offered by the size and design of. the instrument, its workmanship, the nature of the wood and varnish, its general condition, its tone, and a hundred and one details which mean much to the practised eye. . Its authenticated history, if any, is also relevant. The expert is always on the alert to detect faking, which has been, and, no doubt, still is, carried on extensively. Like furniture, oil paintings, and other objects of art and vertu, violins can be given a spurious appearance of age. Even the tone can be improved by certain illegitimate means, the effort of which wears off in a year or so. AUTHENTIC INSTRUMENTS. The chances of any particular violin being a genuine “Strad” are very remote. The master made something over 700 instruments in the course of his long career, which extended from 1679 to 1736, and between 300 and 400 are known to be still in existence. A number are listed and bear individual names, like famons diamonds or Maori meres. Some of the names are the “Tuscan” (1690), “Viotti” (1709), “Parke” (1711), “Dolphin” (1714), “Messiah” (1716), “Alard” (1715), and “Sarasate” (1724). As much as £lO,OOO has been paid for an instrument. NeW Zealand audiences have often heard undoubted “strads” played by distinguished violinists on tour in the Dominion. Mr. R. B. Hewitt, the Auckland violin maker and collector, states that, apart from Archbishop Rewood’s instrument, the only New Zealand-owned “Strad” known to him is one in his own possession. It was brought from England to Otago many years ago by an early settler, from whose _ widow My. Hewitt purchased it. A lifetime’s experience of violin making and repairing has convinced him of its genuineness. Mr. Hewitt also owns an instrument which is considered to be a Nicolas Amati of 1624, and one of the earnest violins credited to that famous maker. He knows of another violin in Auckland which may possibly be by Stradivarius, but he says that there is room for doubt and differences of opinion regarding it.