My mom found a Guarnerius violin at an estate sale. It was in very poor condition. I had it restored and it is a fantastic instrument. I understand there are many fakes out there. I’ve had it appraised and the numbers vary greatly. It came in a Geib violin case that was made in Chicago in 1902. The violin is a 1741 and has a sticker on the inside that says it underwent tonal reconstruction in 1928 in Kansas City MO by Louis Rosenfield.
Any help would be great!
Highly unlikely it is an original. Faked labels are common from the early 1800s to around 1930.
But if you can describe the label completely, and spelling counts, I can maybe find out something about it’s age and possible location of manufacture. There are huge database for this.
Who knows about the case. Legit manufacturer, age is right, but what it’s association with the violin is is limited.
The repair work is a well known instrument maker, born in Lithuania. That is definitely legit.
My guess is your violin is similar to mine. Probably built in around 1880-1890, often of German, Czech our French origin. Mine was unusual in that it was English. Well restored and maintained would bring an average price of 1500-1800$. Prices could be higher our lower depending on many factors.
If you can describe in painful detail or get a photo of the label (not easy) that would help.
inside reads:
Jofeph Guarnerius fecit
Cremona (and there looks to be an ‘e’ attached to the a) anno 1741 (41 Written in) IHS with the cross almost directly over the H perhaps just to the Left side
The peg holes appeared to have been re-drilled and moved ever so slightly. The base of the scroll where it attaches to the neck is a bit wider than the newer violins.
The label on the inside does not look “new” like some of the obvious fakes out there. It looks aged and is on a thicker type paper that appears to have threads in it. The tonal reconstuction sticker is overlapping the original sticker by
perhaps a mm and centered perfect.
When I got it from my mom in terrible shape it had a dust ball inside as round as a gumball. Not sure if these were put in there to keep the inside clean and dry?
The sound is huge. My violin teacher loves the rich tone and the volume of it. My mom found it in Florida. It has been appraised for $7500 and $12500 but both places didn’t seem to exact on these amounts. The first place said if it was his, he wouldn’t have
repaired it.
I tried putting up some pictures but my phone is in html format and tinypic wont upload. I’ll try again tomorrow
Not a guarneri. Cremona(e) is wrong as is the roman cross location.
I don’t know where you got it appraised but that sounds high. It may be a nice instrument, but it still falls into a late nineteenth century factory instrument. I would think 5k tops. Probably german or french- since Czech often would add the initials of the actual maker. The robust sound and bassline suggests a greater arch to the soundbox than the original. This is pretty common to instruments of that era, much like my English Strad.
Would love to see photos.
Oh, and if it were original it would have a baroque neck, shorter than modern with a flatter profile fingerboard.
Main thing is if you like it, love the sound, then play it and enjoy it and not really worry about provenance or price. You don’t have an original, so just have fun.
Thanks for all your knowledge. It just more of a mystery. Someone loved this violin at some time. How did it get in such bad shape and sold for $10 at an estate sale. From everything that came with it (case, extra parts, a really old bow) it was taken care of. It would be nice to find out who owned/played it in its life. I will get some pictures up. Thanks again
I understand. I know mine was made very early 20th century - refurbished in the 40s. It was the owners grandfather’s. I got it cheap since he was an old time fiddler, who worked as a pipe welder. Had an explosion while welding and they had to fuse his elbow, so he couldn’t play anymore.
Good luck tracing it back, but you will really need to find a specialist, and they are few and far between.
Again, post photos. Would love to see the wood and finish.
What type of music are you playing? I do mostly English and French folk.
Post pics on maestronet.com, some worldclass experts there.
And yeah, not original.
And put on your flame suit. They can be tough over there.
I was going to watch pawn shop tonite but read this thread instead. Thanks guys, interesting stuff. I think I’ll pop my Nigel Kennedy cd in now.
.
OK - definitely a guarneri copy, but very nice materials. The lack of any other manufacturer labeling means it is at least pre-1890.
Personally I would get it professionally appraised. There are a couple of indications of age to it. First, the peg bushing and relocation. This much work indicates the pegs were turned a LOT, and couldn’t be simply re-bushed. The second is the neck. You have a graft between the scroll/pegbox and the actual neck. This was pretty common around the early 1800s as changes in music and the expectation of the sound of violins meant going away from the shorter baroque neck to a longer neck (though it didn’t standardise on string length til the mid 1800s). If that is the case this could possibly (and I am not a professional) mean it was late 18th century. There were a lot of German facotries manufacturing copies back then, and a lot of conversions done in the early 1800s.
To get a real appraisal/history - go here - http://www.afvbm.org/american-federation-of-violin-and-bowmakers-member-directory - search for someone accredited in your area. You may have to try a few names to find someone who is not just a builder, but a certified appraiser.
Jriosa Thanks so much for all the info so far. I know this is an instrument that has a lot of history. Someone loved this violin and took good care of it. I am glad to have saved it from a dumpster and will keep it alive and singing for my life and hopefully my daughters (if she keeps playing) life. I will proceed with the web site you sent and hopefully get more information on it.
Thanks Again, Glen
Oh, I played classical as a child. I came up through the Suzuki School out of Chicago. I started at 5 and quit at 13 and regret it. I have been practicing the last year or so. It is wonderful to make music again