Violin
Maker
Kurt Lothar Meisel
Date1953
Place MadeBirmingham, England, Europe
ModelGuarneri
Serial No.16
SignedWritten in black ink on paper label, the lettering in German Gothic style: Lothar Meisel / violin maker / from Klingenthal Vogtl. / Birmingham 1953 No. 16MarkingsBranded on inside of back in front of top and bottom blocks: K. L. MEISEL
Bridge branded, toward tailpiece: K.L.MEISEL
DescriptionTop: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: medium curl ascending slightly from center joint
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: medium curl; rib corners slightly rounded
Head and neck: maple: broad curl; inside of pegbox stained black
Arching: full
Edging: full, rounded edges
Purfling: maple and black-stained maple (according to Lothar Meisel); wide center strip
Varnish: light brown; prominent craquelure
Fingerboard: ebony; later
Nut: ebony; later
Tailpiece: rosewood; beveled face; ivory saddle; later
Tailgut: black plastic
Pegs: four rosewood with bone, ivory or white plastic pins; undercut heads; later
Saddle: varnished ebony; later (according to Lothar Meisel, though not by him)
Endpin: brown-stained boxwood with bone, ivory, or white plastic pin; turned groove around edge
F-holes: long; steeply pointed wings; lower wing channeled
Linings: basswood
Corner blocks: basswood
Top block: basswood
Bottom block: basswood
DimensionsBack length: 356 mmTotal violin length: 593 mm
Upper bout width: 170 mmStop length: 195 mm
Center bout width: 116 mmVibrating string length: 328 mm
Lower bout width: 209 mmNeck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 133 mm
Upper rib height: 29-30 mm
Center rib height: 29-30 mm
Lower rib height: 30 mm
ProvenanceLothar Meisel brought this instrument from England to the United States. This was the first instrument sold under their independent business. Originally it was bought by a high school student. Lothar re-acquired it from a minister’s wife in Iowa, who traded it in for another.
Published ReferencesLaurence Anderson. “From the Maker’s Bench: The Quality of Wood,” String Notes; Journal of the Minnesota String Teachers Asssociation 7, No. 2 (Winter 2004/2005), pp. 12, 27.
K. Lothar Meisel with Betty Vos. The Meisel Family Violin Makers: Klingenthal, Vogtland, Saxony (Ely, Minnesota: Singing River Publications, Inc., 2007), pp. 240-242.
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Meisel, 2003
Object number10455
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