II.—GERMAN AND TYROLESE.
BACHMANN, CARL LUDWIG, of Berlin (1716-1800). This maker was one of the most celebrated of the German school. He made his instruments rather strong in the wood, but now that age has been at work on them, they possess the advantage of being formed into first-class instruments by skilful repairers.
BENTE, MATTEO. A maker of the Brescian school, flourished about 1580. He made some good violins, which are chiefly to be found in collections.
BUCHSTETTER, GABRIEL DAVID, a native of Ratisbon, flourished in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He copied the Cremonese makers and used a brown varnish. His wood is rather coarse-grained, consequently his instruments are not very highly esteemed.
BUCHSTETTER, JOSEPHUS, son of Gabriel David. Made some instruments of good quality and tone, and adopted a flat model.
EBERLE, ULRIC, of Prague, about 1750, an eminent German maker, whose instruments at one time were considered nearly equal to the best Italian makers.
HELMER, CHARLES (CAROLUS), of Prague, a pupil of Eberle. He made some very fine instruments. Otto says: “They have, however, the fault that the three upper strings improve greatly by being played on, but the G string, in most of them, remains so far inferior, that while the tone of the former is such as may be expected from a full sized violin, that of the latter only resembles a child’s toy-instrument. Yet an experienced maker would find no difficulty in correcting this fault.”
HOFFMANN, MARTIN, one of the earliest representatives of the German school, flourished in Leipzig in the latter part of the seventeenth century. He was better known as a lute-maker. He made violins possessing excellent tone, but they do not find much favour by reason of their ungainly appearance.
JAUCH (or JAUG), of Dresden, early part of eighteenth century. The best description of this maker’s instruments is that contained in Otto’s treatise. “Jauch,” he says, “has manufactured very good violins on the model of the Cremonese, and displayed, in his beautiful and excellent workmanship, a thorough knowledge of the wood, and of the due proportions of strength required in the respective parts of the instrument. But his violins produce a very weak squally tone, when they have been carelessly repaired; though even in this case they may be often restored and brought nearly to equal the Italian, by placing them in the hands of an experienced maker, possessing a knowledge of mathematics and acoustics, without which they will be completely spoiled.”
KLOTZ FAMILY. This group represent well-nigh a century of activity, i.e., from about 1670 to about 1760.
KLOTZ, EGIDIUS. Born in Mittenwald. When young he quitted his native village and placed himself under Stainer at Absam. Having learnt the art under this celebrated maker, he returned to his native place and set up in business on his own account, and soon gained considerable renown as a maker of superior instruments, so much so that his productions for some time almost eclipsed those of his master. Even now a sound specimen—which is rarely seen, is not lightly passed over. His instruments possess a fine and powerful tone.
KLOTZ, MATHIAS, 1653-1745. Worked for about twenty years in Mittenwald, during which period he produced instruments of an unsatisfactory nature. He appears to have been aware of this, and with the object of increasing his knowledge, he undertook a journey to Florence and Cremona and other centres of violin industry. With his newly-acquired experience he returned to his native place and established himself in rather a large way.
KLOTZ, SEBASTIAN, son of Mathias (1700-1760). The instruments of this maker are a decided improvement, both as regards pattern and tone. He adopted a somewhat flat model and coated his instruments with a superior varnish to that previously used by the family. His instruments are highly valued.
With regard to the other members of the family, great confusion exists in the minds of writers as to how they stood in point of relationship one with the other. In name they are: George (1723-1797), Joseph (1730-1760), Joan Carol (about 1780), Michael (about the same period).
Spurious instruments bearing the name of Klotz or Clotz flood the market, and the uninitiated should regard them with grave suspicion, unless or until the advice of a competent expert has been obtained as to their genuineness or otherwise.
RAUCH, THOMAS, of Breslau. Made some very good violins in the early part of the eighteenth century. He worked on an original model, and made instruments noted for their powerful tone.
RUPPERT, of Erfurt, a maker who worked on an extremely original model. He made all his instruments very flat in model, and dispensed with the side linings and corner blocks, and omitted the purfling. The front and back tables were, however, made with due regard to thicknesses, which redeemed them somewhat from the defects above mentioned. The instruments possess a good tone and fine examples are highly priced.
SCHEINLEIN, MATTHIAS FREDERICK, of Langenfeld (1730-1771). Made fine instruments which, in his time, were in great demand. He made them too weak, consequently many of them are now practically spoiled by subsequent repairing.
STAINER, JACOBUS, born at Hall, near Absam—a short distance from Innsbruck—July 14, 1621, died at Absam, 1683. This maker is the most renowned of the German school, concerning whose early career the following account has been handed down. A priest residing in the district of Absam took a fancy to young Jacob, and had him sent to Innsbruck to learn the art of organ building under one Daniel Herz. This calling not suiting the youth’s inclinations, his master advised him to learn the art of violin making. Stainer then went to Cremona, and placed himself under Nicolas Amati, who soon recognised the talent of his young pupil, and took great pains in instructing him in the secrets of the art. He then quitted Cremona, and for a short time worked in Venice under Vermercati, who at that time was a maker of some merit. With an accumulation of experience gained in the best schools of the time, Stainer finally returned to Absam and settled there as a maker of violins on his own account. In the year 1645 he married a Margaretha Holzhammer, by whom he had several children. His renown as a violin maker rapidly increased, but for some reason or other he found it difficult to provide for the wants of himself and family, and he was compelled to travel about the country in order to dispose of his instruments. However, in 1658, he was appointed court violin maker to the Archduke Leopold, and in 1669 received the distinction of “Maker to the Emperor”; but all these advantages and honours contributed but little to raise him from his chronic state of poverty. He now began to experience some bitter reverses. A certain creditor of his, named Solomon Heubnar, with whom he at one time lived (Stainer left him without paying for his board) lodged an information against him charging him with the crime of heresy. He was seized and thrown into prison, and remained there six months, at the expiration of which he found himself utterly ruined and poverty stared him in the face. He was then persecuted by Count Albert Fugger for certain dues which it was customary to levy on court tradesmen. Stainer petitioned the Emperor to waive this claim, but to no purpose, his supplication being ignored, it is thought, in consequence of his previous conviction for the alleged heresy. Stainer then fell into a state of abject misery, neglected his work, and finally died out of mind. It will therefore be seen that this renowned maker worked under most distressing conditions, and it is a marvel that he was able to produce anything worthy of subsequent copying. Stainer’s house is still pointed out, and, it is said, the bench to which he was bound when mad.
Another story which has gained currency in some quarters, but in others said to be mythical, recounts that at the latter period of his life he abandoned his calling and became an inmate of a Benedictine monastery. Here, with the assistance of a brother monk, he contrived to get together sufficient materials for the manufacture of sixteen violins of great beauty. These apparently fabulous fiddles are known as the “Elector” Stainers from the circumstance that each Elector was supposed to be the recipient of one of these instruments, the remaining going to the Emperor of Germany. For information concerning the instruments made by this unfortunate fiddle maker, the best is that contained in the treatise of Jacob Augustus Otto, maker to the Court of the Archduke of Weimar, translated from the German by Thomas Fardely, of Leeds (1833), and since then by the late Mr. Bishop, of Cheltenham (William Reeves, London).
Otto says: “The instruments made by Jacob Stainer differ from the Cremonese both in outward shape and in tone. They are higher modelled, and their proportions of strength are calculated quite differently. The nearest comparison which can be drawn between a Cremonese and a Stainer is this: a Cremonese has a strong reedy, sonorous tone something similar to that of a clarionet, while a Stainer approaches to that of a flute. The belly is modelled higher than the back. The highest part of the model under the bridge extends exactly one half of the instrument towards the lower broad part and then diminishes towards the end edge. It decreases in a like manner at the upper broad part towards the neck. The breadth of this model is uniformly the same as that of the bridge, from which it diminishes towards the side edge. The edges are very strong and round. The purfling lies somewhat nearer to the edges than in the Cremonese, and is likewise narrower than in the latter (the Cremonese) in which it is very broad. The f holes in Stainer instruments are very beautifully cut, and the upper and under turns are perfectly circular. In length they are somewhat shorter than the Cremonese. The neck is particularly handsome, and the scroll is as round and smooth as if it had been turned. Some few have lions’ heads, which are extremely well carved. The sides and the back are made of the finest figured maple and covered with a deep yellow amber varnish. In some the screw (peg) box is varnished dark brown and the belly deep yellow. The above are the most accurate marks by which the genuine Stainer instruments may be distinguished. They are rarely to be found with any labels inside, but in the few which are to be met with of the genuine instruments bearing any inscription, they are simply written, not printed. In the Tyrolese imitations of Stainers they are all printed. In the genuine Cremonese instruments they are likewise invariably printed.”
Genuine Stainers with labels have this written inscription: “Jacobus Stainer in Absam prope Œnipontum h-fis 165-.” The following is a facsimile:
