Violin
Date1850-1890 ca.
Place MadeKlingenthal; Brunndobra, Saxony, Germany, Europe
ModelHopf
Serial No.none
SignedBranded on inside of back, visible through bass f-hole, and on outside of back below button, under varnish: HOPFMarkingsWritten in pencil on top block: 4
Music manuscript written in black ink on brown paper, glued to inside of upper bass rib
DescriptionTop: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide grain broadening to very wide at the flanks; no notch in top at neck position; large spruce dowel through top into top block on bass side of center joint; large spruce dowel through top into bottom block on treble side of center joint
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: narrow curl descending from center joint
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: narrow curl angled to left on upper bass, upper treble, and center treble bouts, angled to right on center bass, lower bass, and lower treble bouts
Head and neck: maple: plain; wide, short scroll ears; large channel in neck under fingerboard position
Purfling: does not continue under fingerboard at neck position
Varnish: medium brown
Fingerboard: black-stained spruce veneered with black-stained pearwood
Nut: ebony; later
Tailpiece: missing
Pegs: rosewood with ivory pins; convex, undercut heads; later, fitted by Lothar Meisel, made by Emil Lorenz, Bubenreuth, originally from Markneukirchen
Saddle: ebony; wide
Endpin: black-stained pearwood; very small head
F-holes: large notches
Linings: spruce
Corner blocks: spruce lower corner blocks; no upper corner blocks
Top block: integral with neck; wider at top; spruce shims between top block and ribs
Bassbar: carved from top; very wide; very low height
Other: pyramid-shaped spruce cleats along inside of back joint; circular saw marks visible on inside of ribs
DimensionsTotal violin length: 588 mm
Back length: 357 mm
Upper bout width: 162 mm
Center bout width: 111 mm
Lower bout width: 202 mm
Upper rib height: 31-32 mm
Center rib height: 31-32 mm
Lower rib height: 32-33 mm
Stop length: 193 mm
Vibrating string length: 321 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 128 mm
ProvenanceFormerly used by Lothar and his father Kurt to show as an example of the Hopf model.
Published ReferencesRussell Scott Smith, “The Last Waltz: Owatonna Violinmaker Lothar Meisel Embodies 300 Years of Family Tradition - A Tradition that Will Soon Come to an End,” Minnesota Monthly 30, No. 12 (December 1996), pp. 60-65, 137-138.
Credit LineGift of Kurt Lothar and Patricia A. Meisel, 2003
Object number10451
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