Viola
Maker
Ernst Reinhold Schmidt
Date1893
Place MadeMarkneukirchen, Saxony, Vogtland, Germany, Europe
ModelKonzert-Viola Schmidt
Serial No.none
SignedPrinted on brown paper label, the last digit of year written in black ink: Gefertigt von / E. R. Schmidt & Co. / Markneukirchen i. S. / 1893Mostly obliterated brown paper label on top block: [oblit.]w. Ernst R [Schmidt] / [Mar]kneukir[chen] [oblit.] [Sa]chsen. / [possibly “27.” in black ink]
MarkingsPencil line on inside of top to bass side of bass bar and on bass side of bass bar marking center position
Branded on bridge toward fingerboard: RUDOLF F. SCHMOLL
DescriptionE. R. Schmidt & Co. was a factory that emerged from the success of Ernst Reinhold Schmidt’s (nicknamed Kaisermantel, or “king coat”) violin business. Sometime after he starting his own shop in September 1880, Schmidt, son of Markneukirchen brass instrument maker Ernst Cornelius Schmidt, entered the business of mass-production and instrument dealing. The company was renamed “E. Reinhold Schmidt” after January 1, 1903. (See Zoebisch for more details) See also NMM 5066, viola of the same model with lion’s head (as seen in the 1905 catalog), labeled Vincenzo Panormo.
The instrument appears in the 1905 E. Reinhold Schmidt catalog as the Konzert-Viola “Schmidt,” priced at 36 Marks for an example with a plain scroll and 70 Marks for one with a lion’s head. This was Schmidt’s highest priced viola, compared to 4.50 Marks for the cheapest model.
The extensive playing wear on the neck and pegbox suggest that the instrument was used by a professional.
The viola’s bridge was fitted by Rudolf F. Schmoll (b. February 12, 1904, Hanover, Germany, d. September 1976, Portland, Oregon). Schmoll was apprenticed to Theodor Berger 1921-1926 and received a masters certificate in Markneukirchen, according to Wenberg. Schmoll worked in several cities as a violin maker from 1926-1932, according to Henley and Wenberg (Utica, NY, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. By 1934, he had started working in Portland, according to Henley, though Wenberg stated he had his own shop in Portland in 1942. He is listed in the 1930 Census as a lodger in the home of an auto plant metal worker in Los Angeles, making violins in a music shop. There is an immigration record for Rudolf Schmoll through San Francisco.
Experimental model with very wide body, concave upper rib outline, no upper corners, viola da gamba-like, non-re-curved lower corners, and hybrid f-/flame soundholes
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain broadening toward the flanks
Back: two-piece maple cut off-the-quarter: narrow curl descending from center joint; original patch on upper treble side of button, under varnish
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: medium curl angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; one-piece upper and center ribs; lower ribs overlap upper ribs at corners
Head and neck: maple: narrow curl; pegbox with shoulders; extensive playing wear on sides of neck at first position, pegbox shoulder on bass side, and on treble side of pegbox near D-peg (from resting hand while tuning); notch on bass side of neck marking nut position; inside of pegbox stained black
Purfling: very narrow center strip
Varnish: medium brown; artificial antiquing comprised of dents
Fingerboard: ebony
Nut: ebony
Tailpiece: ebony
Tailgut: clear nylon
Pegs: four varnished ebony; one with mother-of-pearl eye
Saddle: ebony; wide
Endpin: ebony; three turned grooves
F-holes: hybrid f- and flame-holes, with f-hole eyes and wings (lower wings channeled), and flame-like stem
Linings: spruce
Corner blocks: spruce lower corner blocks
Top block: spruce
Bottom block: spruce
Other: inside of body stained dark brown
DimensionsTotal viola length: 699 mm
Back length: 418 mm
Upper bout width: 218 mm
Center bout width: 141 mm
Lower bout width: 277 mm
Upper rib height: 37-39 mm
Center rib height: 39 mm
Lower rib height: 39-40 mm
Stop length: 232 mm
Vibrating string length: 396 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 159 mm
ProvenanceOriginally purchased by donor’s uncle, William W. Biddle, ca. 1936-1938. Dr. and Mrs. Biddle sent the viola to Jeannette Scott Briggs in 1967 when she lived in Beaverton, Oregon.
Credit LineGift of Jeannette Scott Briggs, 1988
Object number04522
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