Violin
Maker
Chanot & Lete
Date1819
Place MadeParis, France, Europe
ModelChanot
Serial No.none
SignedWritten in black ink on paper label: Chanot Luthier / a Paris l'an 1819Markingsnone
DescriptionGuitar-shaped body without corners or overhanging edges.
Top: one-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium; prominent bear-claw figure
Back: one-piece, quarter-cut maple: narrow curl descending from treble to bass; ebony cap over entire button
Ribs: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: narrow curl; top and back do not overhang ribs; bottom ribs divided by trapezoidally-shaped, ebony strip
Head and neck: maple: faint, narrow curl; back of pegbox flat; original reversed scroll or shield-finial replaced with traditional scroll
Edging: edges not scooped; edges capped with rounded ivory over an ebony strip; continues under back button
Purfling: ebony and ivory; continues under back button
Varnish: light, golden-brown
Fingerboard: ebony; channeled over neck position
Nut: ebony
String holder: guitar-style ebony with carved saddle, wider at upper end; strings held by black-stained maple pins with mother-of-pearl eyes
Pegs: four boxwood, two pairs have matching collar profiles; heads undercut at neck; head shape concave on both axes; head edges form a ridge; ferrule steeply tapered
Saddle: ebony; rounded front edge; flush with top; set into top and edge cap
Endpin: ebony; small with very short neck
Bridge: Chanot model by Andrew Dipper, February 2002
F-holes: curved, slot-shaped, slightly wider at lower ends; edges lined in ebony and ivory, the inside edge painted black
Linings: spruce
Bassbar: long; narrow; extends over and through ebony string holder, which is cut away between D and G pins to accommodate bassbar on inside of top
DimensionsTotal Violin length: 609 mm
Back length: 370 mm
Upper bout width: 168 mm
Center bout width: 107 mm
Lower bout width: 209 mm
Upper bout rib height: 32-33 mm
Center bout rib height: 33 mm
Lower bout rib height: 33-34 mm
Stop length: 190 mm
Vibrating string length: 327 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 131 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Published ReferencesAndré P. Larson. The Shrine to Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir. Vermillion: 1988. Pages 32 and 65.
André P. Larson. Beethoven: Musical Treasures from the Age of Revolution and Romance. Santa Ana, California: Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 1999. Page 8.
John Koster. "Inventive Violin Making . . . Important Acquisitions Enrich Museum's Holdings." America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 28, No. 3 (August 2001), pp. 1-3.
André P. Larson. Beethoven & Berlioz, Paris & Vienna: Musical Treasures from the Age of Revolution & Romance 1789-1848. With essay by John Koster. Exhibition catalog, Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, September 12-November 2, 2003. Vermillion: National Music Museum 2003. Page 33.
David Rivinus, “Design Counsel,” The Strad 117, No. 1389 (January 2006), pp. 48-52.
Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Object number01287
On View
Not on view
