Violoncello
Alternate name(s)
- Cello
Maker
Kurt Lothar Meisel
Date1977 - 1978
Place MadeOwatonna, Minnesota, United States, North America
ModelGuarneri
Serial No.1
SignedPrinted in brown ink on paper label with lined texture and wavy-line border, the location, last two digits of year, and serial number written in black ink, signed “Lothar Meisel” in blue ballpoint pen over label text: [bird on branch] K. Lothar Meisel [KLM monogram over lyre] / Violinmaker and Repairer / from Klingenthal, Germany / OWATONNA 1978 No: 1 / MINNESOTA / MEISEL 1977-78 Written in pencil on inside of back, upper bass bout: Lothar Meisel [signature] / #1 1978 / (1977-78) / [illeg.] “MEISEL QUARTETT”
Written in pencil on side of bassbar, upper bout, treble side: [illeg.] 1 – 1978 # 1 [illeg.] 45 [illeg.]
Branded on inside of back, visible through treble f-hole: K.L.MEISEL OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on inside of back in front of top block to treble side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on inside of back in front of bottom block to bass side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on inside of top in front of top block to treble side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL
Branded on inside of top in front of top block to bass side of center joint: OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on inside of top in front of bottom block to bass side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL
Branded on inside of top in front of bottom block to treble side of center joint: OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on inside of top between center joint and bassbar: K.L.MEISEL
Branded in inside of top between center joint and treble f-hole: OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on base of neck heel, under fingerboard: [large typeface] K.L.MEISEL
Branded on bridge, toward fingerboard: [large typeface] K.L.MEISEL
MarkingsStamped on lower rib above endpin: Q
DescriptionLothar Meisel states that this is the only violoncello he has made (Inverview, 7/7/03); The bird on the label represents the family branch, known as the “Bird” Meisels.
This instrument won a Certificate of Merit, Cello Workmanship from the Violin Society of America in 1978 at La Jolla, California.
Lothar made different price levels of instruments when he starting his business in the U. S. A. (from ca. 1957). The lowest level was $350, with one location pin, or dowel, through the back at the top block, and one at the bottom block. The middle grade was $550, with one pin through the back into the top block, and two into the bottom block. The highest grade was $800, and included the two upper and two lower pin configuration. Quality level was no longer tied to the pin configuration after ca. 1967. (Interview with Lothar Meisel, 7/7/03 and 7/30/03)
Lothar Meisel confirmed that the linings, corner blocks, and bottom blocks on his violins are made from basswood, 5/03. The pernambuco strip between the lower ribs are from wood he found in a scrap pile near Reinhold Schnabl’s workshop in Bubenreuth, Germany. The wood of the back is from the Carpathian Mountains. (Telephone conversation 7/30/03)
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain broadening to wide at the flanks
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: medium curl descending from center joint; maple dowel through back into top block; two maple dowels through back into bottom block, one on each side of center joint, spaced 27 mm apart
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: prominent, irregular broad curl angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; lower ribs divided by wide pernambuco strip; rib corners chamfered
Head and neck: maple: prominent, broad curl; pegbox with shoulders; inside of pegbox stained black
Edging: full, rounded edges
Purfling: maple and pearwood, according to Lothar Meisel
Varnish: medium orange; wood texture visible through varnish, resulting in a matte effect
Fingerboard: ebony; subtly raised area along center, lower end; made by Josef Klier, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach
Nut: ebony
Tailpiece: black plastic with four built in black-painted steel fine tuners
Tailgut: steel wire
Pegs: four rosewood with ivory pins; undercut heads; made by Emil Lorenz, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach
Saddle: ebony
Endpin: black plastic and nickel-plated steel; extendable
F-holes: steeply pointed wings; lower wings channeled; inside edge stained black
Linings: basswood
Corner blocks: spruce
Top block: spruce
Bottom block: basswood
Other: spruce cleats along inside of top center joint in upper and lower bouts; maple cleats along inside of back center joint in upper and lower bouts; inside of body stained light brown
DimensionsTotal violoncello length: 1235 mm
Back length: 766 mm
Upper bout width: 357 mm
Center bout width: 247 mm
Lower bout width: 450 mm
Upper rib height: 115-119 mm
Center rib height: 118-119 mm
Lower rib height: 119-120 mm
Stop length: 407 mm
Vibrating string length: 696 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 293 mm
Published ReferencesAndré P. Larson, “A Salute to the Instrument Makers of the Vogtland, Including Nine
Generations of the Meisel Family,” The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 23, No. 1 (October 1995) p. 6.
K. Lothar Meisel with Betty Vos. The Meisel Family Violin Makers: Klingenthal,
Vogtland, Saxony (Ely, Minnesota: Singing River Publications, Inc., 2007), pp. 254-255.
Credit LineGift of Neal and Karin Meisel Steffenson, 1995
Object number05879
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