Child's violin
Maker
Fred White
Date1799
Place MadeBarre, Massachusetts, United States, North America
Serial No.none
SignedWritten in black ink on paper label: Made by Fred White Barre / in 1799. Lorenzo played upon it from / 1817 to 1822. Ira J White put in a new head / in 1828 and a new piece in 1882.Markingsnone
DescriptionThis violin was acquired by the National Music Museum as a rare example of 18th-century American violin making from the family of the White brothers. The White brothers, Ira and Asa, were significant for being among the first American makers to use the models of classical Italian instruments for their own production, bringing the quality of their making to international standard. It has recently been discovered that the inscription inside this violin, which was not known to violin scholarship before its sale at auction in 2009, corresponded with information in an unpublished biography, The John White Family in the Boston Music Scene 1829-1935 by Dr. Edward Wall of Salem, Massachusetts, 1978, who in turn drew upon the unpublished manuscript The Early Violin Makers of New England by John A. Gould, who interviewed at least one White descendant. The Wall biography was used as a source by Philip Kass, who included the following text in The American Violin (AFVMB Foundation, 2016), p. 28. "As a boy, Ira showed great mechanical aptitute and was called upon to fix just about anything that was broken. His inspiration for violin making was an offer made by his brother Lorenzo, who led a dance band in Boston. He gave Ira a badly damaged violin, telling him that he could have it if he fixed it. Ira did just that but, once it was repaired, his brother took it back to Boston. Ira was determined to make a new one from scratch. His father, who needed his son's help on the farm, was against the plan, which forced Ira to continue his efforts secretly in the attic. However, when his father saw the finished instrument, he was so impressed that he decided Ira should go to Boston to be a violin maker. In fact, the entire family made the move to Boston around 1830."
Lorenzo White is listed as being born in 1808 to John and Arathusa White in the Barre town records, fitting the dating that he would have used this small violin from the ages of 9 to 14, or 1817 to 1822 as listed on the label. Fred or Frederick White has not been identified, but it is possible that he was in fact John White, father of John White, Jr. (the White brothers' father), who would have been 14 at the time this violin was made, and other siblings were born between 1783 and 1799. John White, Jr. was known to have been a skilled violinist. The location of Barre given on the instrument's label was the family's home prior to their migration to Boston.
Kass now believes that this surviving violin is in fact the one that became part of the White family history, and as such, plays a seminal role in the history of American violin making.
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: fine grain broadening toward the flanks; lower bass bout replaced by Ira J. White with a spruce piece of medium grain; maple pin through top into bottom block on bass side of center joint; pin originally through top into top block, now perhaps removed
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: faint, narrow, horizontal curl; two pins through back into bottom block, one on each side of center joint
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: plain; faint, narrow curl in lower treble and center bass bouts
Head and neck: maple: faint, narrow curl; inside of pegbox varnished
Arching: high; rises abruptly from edges
Purfling: double black-painted lines
Varnish: light orange-brown
Fingerboard: ebony; slightly tapered
Nut: missing
Tailpiece: missing
Tailgut: missing
Pegs: missing
Saddle: ebony
Endpin: missing
F-holes: curved upper and lower wings; notch corners rounded; undercut
Linings: none
Corner blocks: none
Top block: spruce
Bottom block: spruce
Other: wide toothed plane marks on inside of ribs
DimensionsBack length: 312 mm
Upper bout width: 144 mm
Center bout width: 90 mm
Lower bout width: 178 mm
Upper rib height: 25-26 mm
Center rib height: 24-25 mm
Lower rib height: 25 mm
Total violin length: 508 mm
Stop length: 158 mm
Vibrating string length: 271 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 113mm
ProvenanceAccording to label, played by “Lorenzo” from 1819-1822. Lorenzo White was Ira J. White's brother. Fred or Frederick White not identified.
Purchased in 2009 from Skinner Auction House, Boston, Massachusetts. Lot 352.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 2009
Object number14386
On View
Not on view
