Violin
Maker
Halvor Lee
Date1930
Place MadeSpirit Lake, Iowa, United States, North America
SignedWritten in black ink on banner-shaped, light brown paper label with black ink line around edge: MADE BY / HALVOR LEE / 1930MarkingsWritten in black ink on small, light brown paper label with cut corners, affixed to lower ribs above endpin: 22Written in pencil on brown cardboard tag found inside violin, now stored in instrument file: # 22 / Top Italian / Spruce / 1930 - $200. / [opposite side] KarlDescriptionHalvor Lee (August 13, 1863 - August 17, 1946) was born in Norway and immigrated to the United States as a child in 1869. In 1900 he was working as a mustard grinder in Minneapolis, but by 1910 he was working as a hardware merchant in Center Grove township, Dickinson, Iowa, where the town of Spirit Lake is located. By 1930, he was retired and apparently took up the hobby of violin making.
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain; patched flaw in wood on upper bass bout, under varnish; patched flaw in wood near edge, center bass about, under purfling
Back: one-piece maple cut slightly off-the-quarter: prominent, broad curl ascending from treble to bass
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: broad curl, angled to left on upper bass, center treble, and lower bass bouts, angled to right on upper treble, center bass, and lower treble bouts
Head and neck: maple: medium curl; flared scroll volutes; pegbox cheeks slightly tapered
Edging: edges minimally scooped; corners worn before application of varnish
Purfling: wide center strip; abrupt corners
Varnish: medium orange-brown
Fingerboard: black-stained spruce with black-stained maple veneer; originally from Saxon violin
Nut: ebony; thin
Tailpiece: black-stained brown tropical hardwood
Tailgut: red gut
Pegs: four black-stained dark brown tropical hardwood
Saddle: ebony
Endpin: varnished ebony
F-holes: flared, strongly pointed wings; upper and lower edges of f-holes cut in to emphasize wing points; undercut
Linings: maple; wide
Corner blocks: maple
Bridge: glued to top
Other: tool marks visible on outside of ribsDimensionsTotal violin length: 596 mm
Back length: 357 mm
Upper bout width: 165 mm
Center bout width: 102 mm
Lower bout width: 204 mm
Upper rib height: 30-32 mm
Center rib height: 32-33 mm
Lower rib height: 33-34 mm
Stop length: 195 mm
Vibrating string length: 334 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 139 mmProvenanceFrom the collection of Halvor Lee, grandfather of the donor.
Credit LineGift of Mary L. Fawkes, 1998
Object number06126
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