Viola
Maker
Kurt Lothar Meisel
Date1975
Place MadeOwatonna, Minnesota, United States, North America
ModelGuarneri
Serial No.16
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 / MINNESOTA 1975 No: 16Written in pencil on inside of top, upper treble bout: Lothar Meisel [signature] / #16 / JAN. 23.75 / ( [illeg.] / [illeg.] )
Branded on inside of back, visible through treble f-hole: [large typeface] K.L.MEISEL OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on inside of back in front of top block to bass side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL
Branded on inside of back in front of top block to treble side of center joint: OWATONNA/MINN.
Branded on inside of back in front of bottom block to treble side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL
Branded on inside of back in front of bottom block to bass side of center joint: 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: [large typeface] 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: K.L.MEISEL
MarkingsStamped on lower rib above endpin: Q
DescriptionGuarneri model; The bird on the label represents the family branch, known as the “Bird” Meisels.
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 strips 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: fine grain broadening then narrowing toward the flanks
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: prominent, medium curl descending steeply 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 13 mm apart
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: prominent, medium curl angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; lower ribs divided by two purfling strip and one wide pernambuco strip; rib corners slightly rounded
Head and neck: maple: prominent, medium curl; pegbox with shoulders; inside stained black
Edging: full, rounded edges
Purfling: maple and pearwood, according to Lothar Meisel; wide center strip
Varnish: medium orange; wood texture visible through varnish, resulting in a matte effect
Fingerboard: ebony; made by Josef Klier, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach
Nut: ebony
Tailpiece: rosewood; beveled face; ivory saddle; made by Herfried Werner, Bubenreuth, originally from Ursprung, Czechoslovakia, near Schönbach; note that Lothar Meisel specifically requests light-colored rosewood fittings from Werner (Interview, 7/7/03)
Tailgut: black plastic
Pegs: four rosewood with ivory pins; undercut heads; made by Emil Lorenz, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach
Saddle: ebony
Endpin: rosewood with ivory pin; made by Emil Lorenz, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach
F-holes: steeply pointed wings; lower wings channeled; inside edge stained black
Linings: basswood
Corner blocks: basswood
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 viola length: 672 mm
Back length: 409 mm
Upper bout width: 190 mm
Center bout width: 126 mm
Lower bout width: 238 mmNeck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 151 mm
Upper rib height: 37-39 mm
Center rib height: 38-39 mm
Lower rib height: 38-40 mm
Stop length: 221 mm
Vibrating string length: 373 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 151 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. 252-253.
Credit LineGift of Kurt Lothar and Patricia A. Meisel, 1995
Object number05878
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