Violin
Maker
Kurt Lothar Meisel
Date1947
Place MadeKlingenthal, Saxony, Germany, Europe
ModelStradivari
Serial No.3
SignedWritten in black ink on paper label with single ink line border, the lettering in German Gothic style: gebaut v. Lothar Meisel, / Sohn des Geigenbaumeisters / Kurt Meisel / Klingenthal 1947. No. 3.MarkingsBranded on bridge, toward tailpiece: K.L.MEISEL
Branded on bridge, toward fingerboard: OWATONNA/MINN.
DescriptionTop: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: faint, medium curl descending from center joint
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: faint, medium curl, angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; lower ribs divided by thin ebony strip; rib corners slightly rounded
Head and neck: maple: medium curl
Edging: full, rounded edges
Purfling: maple and pearwood (according to Lothar Meisel); wide center strip
Varnish: dark red-brown; still soft
Fingerboard: ebony; Lothar notes that this is original, and the poor quality wood was the only kind available in Klingenthal at the time
Nut: ebony
Tailpiece: ebony; tulip-shaped; rounded end; mother-of-pearl eye surrounded by brass ring; Lothar states that this and other fittings are original
Tailgut: black plastic
Pegs: four ebony with mother-of-pearl eyes enclosed in brass rings
Saddle: ebony
Endpin: ebony with mother-of-pearl eye enclosed in brass ring
F-holes: lower wings channeled
Linings: spruce
Corner blocks: spruce
DimensionsTotal violin length: 591 mm
Back length: 357 mm
Upper bout width: 168 mm
Center bout width: 110 mm
Lower bout width: 208 mm
Upper rib height: 28-29 mm
Center rib height: 29-30 mm
Lower rib height: 30-31 mm
Stop length: 193 mm
Vibrating string length: 326 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 132 mm
ProvenanceNMM 10454 was played in the Liverpool Youth Orchestra (U. K.) until it was recently purchased by Lothar Meisel. Lothar does not know how many years the violin had been in Liverpool. He notes that this instrument would have been made for the Communist violin maker’s cooperative. This organization did not have its own labels, so he could insert one of his own. He began his apprenticeship in May or June 1946. He notes that No. 7, in the museum at Klingenthal, was made in his spare time, and not for the cooperative. (Telephone conversation, 7/30/03)
Published ReferencesMeisel, K. Lothar and Betty Vos. _The Meisel Family Violin Makers: Klingenthal, Vogtland, Saxony_. Ely, Minnesota: Singing River Publications, Inc., 2007. Pages 208-211.
Sheets, Arian. "The migration of the Vogel-Meisels' workshop from Germany's 'Resonant Valley' to the National Music Museum." _National Music Museum Newsletter_ 44, no. 3 (Fall 2020): 8-10.
Credit LineGift of Neal and Karin Meisel Steffenson, 2003
Object number10454
On View
Not on view
