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Violin
Maker: Carl Louis Meisel
Date: 1886
Place Made:Klingenthal, Saxony, Germany, Europe
Serial No: none
SignedWritten in regional cursive lettering, in black ink on paper label: Louis Meisel [n. Ortsteil] / in Klingenthal 1886
MarkingsBridge stamped: K. L. MEISEL
DescriptionCarl Louis Meisel (1847-1905)
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide grain; dowel or nail hole through top into top block
Back: one-piece, slab-cut maple: plain
Ribs: slab-cut maple: bird's-eye figure
Head and neck: maple: medium curl and bird's-eye figure; inside of pegbox stained dark brown
Varnish: medium orange-brown; neck varnished
Fingerboard: ebony
Nut: ebony
Tailpiece: ebony; raised gold-plated-brass lyre attached to surface; later
Tailgut: black plastic
Pegs: ebony; six fluted grooves on each head face; later
Saddle: ebony
Endpin: ebony; probably later
F-holes: flared wings
Linings: spruce
Corner blocks: spruce
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide grain; dowel or nail hole through top into top block
Back: one-piece, slab-cut maple: plain
Ribs: slab-cut maple: bird's-eye figure
Head and neck: maple: medium curl and bird's-eye figure; inside of pegbox stained dark brown
Varnish: medium orange-brown; neck varnished
Fingerboard: ebony
Nut: ebony
Tailpiece: ebony; raised gold-plated-brass lyre attached to surface; later
Tailgut: black plastic
Pegs: ebony; six fluted grooves on each head face; later
Saddle: ebony
Endpin: ebony; probably later
F-holes: flared wings
Linings: spruce
Corner blocks: spruce
DimensionsTotal violin length: 590 mm
Back length: 359 mm
Upper bout width: 165 mm
Center bout width: 111 mm
Lower bout width: 207 mm
Upper rib height: 32 mm
Center rib height: 31-32 mm
Lower rib height: 31-32 mm
Stop length: 196 mm
Vibrating string length: 326 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 130 mm
Back length: 359 mm
Upper bout width: 165 mm
Center bout width: 111 mm
Lower bout width: 207 mm
Upper rib height: 32 mm
Center rib height: 31-32 mm
Lower rib height: 31-32 mm
Stop length: 196 mm
Vibrating string length: 326 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 130 mm
ProvenanceKarl Glass (resident of Klingenthal, friend of the Meisel family, son of violin maker Kurt Glass) saved NMM 6143 for the Meisel family collection. Karl gave Lothar the instrument on a trip to Klingenthal on the day his father Kurt Oswald Meisel died (in 1995). (According to Lothar Meisel, July 7, 2003).
Terms
Credit Line: Gift of Kurt Lothar and Patricia A. Meisel, 1998
On view
Published ReferencesLarson, André P., “Recent Acquisitions,” America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 25, No. 4 (August 1998), p. 6.
Prod. Julie Kucaj. “Lothar Meisel,” Arts & Minds. Bravo! News Style Arts Channel, Toronto, 30-31 Jan. 2003.
K. Lothar Meisel with Betty Vos. The Meisel Family Violin Makers: Klingenthal, Vogtland, Saxony (Ely, Minnesota: Singing River Publications, Inc., 2007), pp. 114-117.
Prod. Julie Kucaj. “Lothar Meisel,” Arts & Minds. Bravo! News Style Arts Channel, Toronto, 30-31 Jan. 2003.
K. Lothar Meisel with Betty Vos. The Meisel Family Violin Makers: Klingenthal, Vogtland, Saxony (Ely, Minnesota: Singing River Publications, Inc., 2007), pp. 114-117.
Object number: 06143