Violin
Maker
Louis Foucault
Date1909
Place MadeMinnesota, United States, North America
ModelLumberjack's fiddle
Serial No.none
SignedWritten in pencil on paper label: Louis Foucault / Made Bgin 1909MarkingsBridge branded: PANPI
DescriptionExperimental Violin with trapezoidal body, the slab-cut top bent to join the back without ribs on the sides.
Top: one-piece slab-cut pine: wide grain; bent rather than carved
Back: two-piece, slab-cut birch: knot of back at lower bass side; slightly bent; dowel through button into neck heel at center joint; dowel through back into bottom rib/bottom block at center joint
Ribs: quarter-cut pine: wide grain; grain runs parallel to back
Head and neck: maple: plain; long, upright pegbox; simplified scroll; scroll and pegbox not reeded
Arching: very high, bent arching along neck-endpin axis on top; slightly, bent arching along neck-endpin axis on back
Edging: edges rounded, not scooped
Purfling: none
Varnish: clear
Fingerboard: black-stained pearwood
Nut: birch or butternut
Tailpiece: ebony with small mother-of-pearl eye; saddle does not fully extend to edge
Tailgut: pink gut
Pegs: varnished ebony with small mother-of-pearl eyes and abstract, round mother-of-pearl flowers with red-painted-incised-line decoration on head faces
Saddle: birch or butternut; set into top
Endpin: birch
Chinrest: birch; straight upper and right sides, curved lower left side; attached top with wooden dowel near saddle
F-holes: long; very narrow wings; no notches
Linings: none
Corner blocks: none
Top block: spruce; integral with upper rib; grain runs parallel to back; large screw through top block into neck heel
Bottom block: spruce; integral with low rib; grain runs parallel to back
Bassbar: wide; rounded edges
DimensionsTotal Violin length: 621 mm
Back length: 357 mm
Upper bout width: 154 mm
Center bout width: 174 mm
Lower bout width: 182 mm
Upper rib height: 42 mm
Lower rib height: 50 mm
Stop length: 185 mm
Vibrating string length: 329 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 143 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Published ReferencesAndré P. Larson, "Gallery I Nears Completion – Displays American Musical Instruments," Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 2, No. 1 (April 1975), p. 2.
Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Object number01138
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