Violin
Maker
Kurt Lothar Meisel
Date1996
Place MadeOwatonna, Minnesota, United States, North America
ModelMeisel
SignedPrinted in brown ink on paper label with lined texture, the model name, location, year, and “KRP” written in black ink, the signature in blue ink: [bird on branch] KRP Lothar Meisel [signature] / K. LOTHAR MEISEL SINCE / 1660 / 9th GENERATION VIOLIN MAKER [KLM monogram over lyre] / [along right side] “MEISEL” / MODEL / OWATONNA MINNESOTA 1996Signed in pencil on inside of back, upper treble bout: Lothar Meisel / KRP 2 - 1996
Written in pencil on inside of top, upper treble bout: 9TH GENERATION / Lothar Meisel [signature] -2-21-29 IN KLINGENTHAL / [slash in text] VOGTLAND / KRP 2-1996
Branded on inside of back, visible through treble f-hole: [large typeface] K.L.MEISEL OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on inside of back in front of top block to bass side of center joint: [large typeface] K.L.MEISEL
Branded on inside of back in front of top block to treble side of center joint: OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on inside of back in front of bottom block to treble side of center joint: [large typeface] K.L.MEISEL
Branded on inside of back in front of bottom block to bass side of center joint: OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on base of neck heel, under fingerboard: K.L.MEISEL
Branded on bridge, toward fingerboard: OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on bridge, toward tailpiece: K.L.MEISEL
MarkingsWritten in black ink on inside of back, upper bouts: IN ERRINERUNG & EHRE: / IN MEMORY & HONOR: / OF / KARL OSWALD MEISEL / {[right side] 7th GENERATION & DESIGNER OF THE / “MEISEL” MODEL} / {[left side] KLINGENTHAL / VOGTL. / *AUG. 28, 1878 + JAN. 8, 1935} / AND / KURT OSWALD MEISEL 8th GENERATION / * KLINGETHAN / VOGTL. – 7. AUG. 1903 / + OWATONNA /MN. – 30. AUG. 1995.
Written in pencil on bass bridge foot: M
Serial Code: KRP
DescriptionThe bird on the label represents the family branch, known as the “Bird” Meisels.
Lothar Meisel confirmed that the linings, corner blocks, and bottom blocks on his violins are made from basswood, 5/03. The pernambuco strips between the lower ribs are from wood he found in a scrap pile near Reinhold Schnabl’s workshop in Bubenreuth, Germany. The wood of the back is from the Carpathian Mountains. (Telephone conversation 7/30/03). Fitting suppliers names and locations provided by Lothar Meisel on a visit to the Museum, 7/7/03.
“KRP” is a secret serial code used by Lothar Meisel in lieu of a serial number. He felt that assigning a number to a violin is demeaning to the craft, and so devised the letter system, which he has chosen not to reveal. He had been asked by Canadian Customs the serial number on an instrument he was taking over the border, when it occurred to him that serial numbers imply mass-production rather than fine hand craftsmanship. (Telephone conversation between Lothar Meisel and Arian Sheets, 5/29/03)
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain broadening toward the flanks
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: broad curl descending from center joint; small maple dowel through back into top block; small maple dowel through back into bottom block
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: medium curl angled to left; lower ribs divided by two wide ebony strips and one wide pernambuco strip; rib corners chamfered
Head and neck: maple: medium curl; light orange-brown stain on neck
Edging: full, rounded edges
Purfling: maple and pearwood, according to Lothar Meisel
Varnish: medium orange-brown
Fingerboard: ebony; made by Josef Klier, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach
Nut: ebony
Tailpiece: ebony; engraved red-gold lyre inlaid in face; tulip-shaped
Tailgut: black plastic
Pegs: four rosewood with ivory pins; undercut heads; made by Emil Lorenz, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach
Saddle: ebony
Endpin: rosewood with ivory pin; made by Emil Lorenz, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach
F-holes: steeply pointed wings; lower wings slightly channeled
Linings: basswood
Corner blocks: basswood
Top block: spruce
Bottom block: basswood
Other: lower bass rib reinforced with birch veneer at chinrest position; inside of body
stained light brown
DimensionsTotal violin length: 592 mm
Back length: 360 mm
Upper bout width: 169 mm
Center bout width: 112 mm
Lower bout width: 210 mm
Upper rib height: 30-31mm
Center rib height: 30-31 mm
Lower rib height: 30-32 mm
Stop length: 195 mm
Vibrating string length: 329 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 132 mm
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.
Meisel holds NMM 6146 in a photograph on p. 65. NMM 10,451, violin by a member of the Hopf Family, appears prominently in photograph on p. 60.
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. 260-263.
Credit LineGift of Kurt Lothar and Patricia A. Meisel, 1998
Object number06146
On View
Not on view
