Violin

Date1903

Place MadeOttumwa, Iowa, United States, North America

ModelStainer

Serial No.122

SignedPrinted on paper label with cut corners, the year and serial number in black ink: NEW MODEL, HIGH GRADE VIOLIN / Made by C. M. WOOLWORTH, / OTTUMWA, IOWA, U. S. A. / 1903 No. 122.
MarkingsCompass indentation on inside of back at soundpost position
Pencil marks on inside of back with measurements, probably by Stanley G. Newton
Pencil inscription on inside of back at lower block position, probably by Stanley G. Newton: Not under / 33
DescriptionCharles M. Woolworth was born in Deerfield, Oneida County, New York in 1848, son of the harness maker Solomon Woolworth (1822, Jefferson, New York-1871, Chicago) and Abigail Pierce Rowell (1826, Waterville, New York - 1863, Waterville). He had moved to Iowa by 1874, when his son Lee A. Woolworth was born. In the 1880 Census, C. M.Woolworth is listed as a carriage and wagon maker in Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa. His son Lee A. Woolworth died on November 7, 1901, and was known in the Ottumwa area as a musician and composer. His “Company G, I. N. G.” [Iowa National Guard] March was published by Barnhouse in 1902. All Woolworth violins at the National Music Museum: NMM 10,286 made in 1898, No. 105; NMM 10,077 made in 1898, No. 106; NMM 10,290 made in 1902, No. 122; and NMM 4860 made in 1914, No. 125.

Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain broadening toward the flanks
Back: one-piece, slab-cut maple: faint, narrow curl; small button; dowel between back button and neck heel, not visible from exterior
Ribs: slab-cut maple: medium curl and faint bird's-eye figure; set into neck heel
Head and neck: maple: narrow curl; stippled pegbox sides with raised, unstippled borders at edges and around peg holes, the stippling ending in a point at first turn of scroll
Arching: high and full
Edging: deeply and sharply scooped inside edge, forming ridge with chamfered top edge, the lowest point just inside purfling
Purfling: narrow light strips on top center bouts; elsewhere wide light strips; curves inward and ends on each side below fingerboard; extends under tailpiece
Varnish: light orange-brown with slight craquelure
Fingerboard: black-painted maple; later
Nut: bone; later
F-holes: curved upper and lower wings; notches angled steeply down toward interior
Linings: spruce
Corner blocks: spruce; corners chamfered between linings
Top block: integral with neck; small; rectangular
Bottom block: missing
DimensionsTotal violin length: 587 mm
Back length: 357 mm
Upper bout width: 164 mm
Center bout width: 109 mm
Lower bout width: 210 mm
Upper rib height: 29-30 mm
Center rib height: 29-30 mm
Lower rib height: 29-30 mm
Stop length: 200 mm
Vibrating string length: 328 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 128 mm

Credit LineGift of Marie Newton, 1972

Object number10290

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