Violin
Date1900-1940 ca.
Place MadeUnited States, North America
Modelnone
Serial No.none
SignednoneMarkingsnone
DescriptionTop: one-piece, slab-cut pine: fine grain; edges cut after top inserted in neck heel groove; top upper edges not rounded
Back: one-piece, slab-cut pine: fine grain; maple added to enlarge upper and Bass side of button after back carved; 6 mm diameter dowel through small, pine part of button
Ribs: semi-slab-cut ash; rib corners chamfered
Head and neck: maple; scroll and pegbox not fluted
Arching: low and full
Edging: convex rather than scooped
Purfling: none
Decoration: silvered glass, rose-cut rhinestones inlaid into top; circular-pattern rhinestone inlays in each upper bout, comprised of 9 rhinestones each (one missing), set into incised guide lines; diamond-pattern rhinestone inlays in each lower bout, comprised of 13 rhinestones each, set into incised guide lines
Varnish: dark red-brown stain
Fingerboard: dark-red-brown-stained maple
Nut: pine; later
Tailpiece: black-stained maple; high curvature; tailgut passes through holes drilled in face; saddle carved rather than inlaid
Tailgut: steel wire
Pegs: one dark-brown-stained maple with silvered glass, rose-cut rhinestone eye, “X” incised on one face, “····” incised on other face; two black-stained maple, not matching; one ebony with mother-of-pearl eye, crack repaired with steel wire
Saddle: dark-brown-stained maple
Endpin: dark-brown-stained maple block (12 mm wide) with rounded upper and lower edges, glued to bottom rib; two holes cut, one each in upper and lower half, the tailgut strung through top hole; maple dowel through block into bottom rib on treble side, partially cut off at edge
F-holes: rounded upper and lower wings; no notches; shallow chamfers along entire outside surface
Linings: none
Corner blocks: maple and/or birch
Bassbar: beech; very wide; short; low height
Other: band saw marks visible on lower treble corner block; circular clamp marks visible on top and back along edges; white string tied to upper end of soundpost
DimensionsTotal violin length: 584 mm
Back length: 348 mm
Upper bout width: 175 mm
Center bout width: 120 mm
Lower bout width: 217 mm
Upper rib height: 30-32 mm
Center rib height: 30-32 mm
Lower rib height: 30-32 mm
Stop length: 192 mm
Vibrating string length: 328 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 138 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979. Given to Larson by Lloyd Loar, Evanston, Illinois, in 1940. Larson studied acoustics with Loar at Northwestern University.
Published ReferencesSilva, Ana Sofia. "Digging the Fifties: A Curatorial Perspective on 50 Objects from the NMM Collections." NMM Notes (October 2023): 2-3.
Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Object number00050
On View
Not on view
1920-1950 ca.