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Viola

Date1890-1910 ca.

Place MadeMarkneukirchen, Upper Saxony, Germany, Europe

ModelKonzert-Viola Schmidt

Serial No.none

SignedFacsimile paper label with border comprised of small circles: Vincenzo Frusiano / Panormo / fecit [“Arni di Palermo” in between double dotted-line circles, a phoenix at the center and a Maltese cross above] / Anno 17
MarkingsPencil line on inside of top at bassbar center position toward bass f-hole
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 4522, viola of the same model with a scroll head, bearing an “E. R. Schmidt & Co.” label dated 1893.

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.

Alternative model with very wide body, concave upper rib outline, no upper corners, viola da gamba-like, non-recurved lower corners, and hybrid f-/flame soundholes
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: broad curl descending slightly from treble to bass
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: prominent, medium curl angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; one-piece upper and center ribs
Head and neck: maple: irregular, broad curl; pegbox terminates in carved lion’s head with red-painted tongue carved from separate piece of wood, affixed with a dowel inserted into hole drilled in mouth; back of pegbox flat; pegbox with shoulders; inside of pegbox stained black; neck varnished
Purfling: very narrow center strip
Varnish: medium red-brown with craquelure and tendency to flake; shaded
Fingerboard: ebony
Nut: ebony
Tailpiece: missing
Pegs: three ebony
Saddle: ebony; finished with same varnish as body
Endpin: varnished ebony
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; very wide
Bottom block: spruce; very wide
DimensionsTotal viola length: 711 mm
Back length: 422 mm
Upper bout width: 217 mm
Center bout width: 140 mm
Lower bout width: 275 mm
Upper rib height: 34-35 mm
Center rib height: 35-36 mm
Lower rib height: 35-36 mm
Stop length: 235 mm
Vibrating string length: 396 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 162 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson acquired the viola during a trip to Scandinavia in August 1976.

Credit LineArne B. Larson Estate, 1988

Object number05066

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