admin | August 7, 2010
This violin is branded in two places, at the top of the back and inside, and both brands are as new-looking as the rest of it: Anciaume le Jeune.
The neck (and indeed the fingerboard) are original. It’s a transitional-period instrument, the neck being less angled than that of a modern violin and [...]
admin | July 14, 2010
Cahusac violin
Violin label
Here is an interesting and inexpensive violin by Cahusac of London, dating from 1786. A label inside says so, but I can’t believe that the label is genuine. It’s not printed, but inscribed Cahusac, Strand, London, 1786, in an antique hand – but whether the handwriting is 18th of early 19th [...]
admin | April 15, 2010
Shortly after we moved into the old church we were approached with a request to host a Bach harpsichord recital here. The acoustics are excellent and we have plenty of space. The event was attended by sixty-one people, and on the whole was a success. Immediately afterwards a local choir asked to [...]
admin | March 24, 2010
I have a violin with an indistinct brand, Longman & something or other, and I thought to have a closer look at it. It actually reads Longman, Lukey & Co., No. 26, Cheapside, London. Its unusual feature is the peculiar chevron stringing around the edges, in place of the conventional purfling. Longman [...]
admin | March 8, 2010
The old certificate for this violin, which has a fake Joseph Hill label, described it as “Kloz School” without bothering with a date. I suppose it was made in the late 18th Century, and probably in Mittenwald, which indeed does make it of that school. The extended Kloz family produced large numbers of [...]
admin | January 17, 2010
Look at this. It’s just gorgeous. I bought it at a regional auction where they had all sorts of junk, and the pre-sale estimate was £500/800. Some violins just stand out for their quality. Apart from being amazed by the beauty of the varnish it was immediately apparent that this [...]
admin | December 17, 2009
Violins are handsome objects, no question about it. Lots of writers have gone into ecstasies about the outline, the varnish and the subtle arching and so on. Most of a violin’s form is necessary. Its general shape and size are defined by what is practical and what makes the best sound – [...]
admin | December 7, 2009
I have just been shown a very beautiful smallish Italian violin, dating from around the middle of the 17th century and attributed to Andrea Guarneri. It has an old and slightly ambiguous certificate and a recent unambiguous dendrochronology report. The table can be definitely dated to 1630, and the report adds that, as the edges [...]
admin | November 15, 2009
I must confess immediately that I am colour blind. Not just the usual red-green confusion, but something far worse, or so I’m told – for how would I know? Of course, I’ve grown up with the inability to match socks and so on, but it has rarely mattered. As a child, everybody else in [...]