KARNER, Johann Georg.—Enns; about 1825. Instruments branded “I. K.” in addition to bordered label. Mediocre work; wood frequently worm-eaten.
KEFFER.—Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There appear to have been several German makers of the name, working chiefly in Goisern. Instruments labelled, also branded “J. K.”
KEMPTER, Andreas.—Dillingen. Died 1786. High built. Stainer pattern; sometimes with lion heads. He seems also to have made instruments of flatter arching.
KENNEDY.—London; eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A well-known family of Scottish origin. Alexander, the founder, died in London in 1785. Neat work. Stainer pattern. A nephew, John, worked chiefly for the trade and died in 1816. The best known maker was Thomas, the son of John, born 1784, died 1870. He also worked for the trade, but made a very large number of instruments on his own account, including numerous violoncellos. His personal work, when he chose to do his best, was of good pattern, and very neatly finished, but he evidently made instruments of different classes, and the poorer examples are of little worth.
KESSLER.—Markneukirchen. A very numerous family of German makers dating from about 1700 to the present time. They came from Markneukirchen, but some have settled in different German towns. The more recent members have manufactured on a considerable scale.
KITTEL, Nicholas.—St. Petersburg; to about 1870. Work scarce. He is best known as a bow-maker, and has produced excellent bows, stamped with his name.
KLEMM.—Markneukirchen. There were several workmen of the name in the eighteenth century.
KLEYMAN, Cornelis (also spelt Kleynman).—Amsterdam; seventeenth century. A little known copyist of Amati.
KLOZ.—Mittenwald; seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. A very numerous and important family of makers, and the real founders of the enormous business in violin making which has been carried on in and around Mittenwald since their time. About a score or more of makers of the name have been enumerated, and, as many of them bore the same Christian name, there has been much confusion as to their identity. About half a dozen of the number are tolerably well known and distinguished by judges in this country. For the rest, it is doubtful if even amongst their own countrymen any one is living who can claim any very exact knowledge of their individual work. The earlier workmen made more or less accurate copies of the instruments of Stainer, and in some cases there is little doubt that they labelled and sold their work as his, even during his lifetime. Some of the later Klozs altered the pattern of their violins and evidently based their designs upon Italian work, but none of them really succeeded in producing specimens possessing the true Italian style, although some of these have passed current as Cremonese amongst the unlearned in such matters. Most of them made their fiddles in two or more grades, the better of which, in certain cases, are well finished and possess a yellow or red-brown varnish of considerable brilliancy, and quality akin to that of Italy; but the bulk of the Kloz fiddles and basses are covered with the poor, meagre-looking stuff known as “glue varnish.” In numbers of cases the varnish on their work has become almost black. Of the individual members of the family, Matthias I. (1656-1743) made fiddles of Stainer character and occasionally covered with varnish which gives some colour to the story that he travelled in Italy and acquired experience of Italian methods of varnishing. Egidius Kloz I. worked until 1711, and his instruments are good and fairly valuable. Egidius II. died in 1805, and was a neat workman, but rarely used decent varnish. His violins are fairly common in this country. Johann Carl was one of the best of the tribe; model fairly flat; good red-brown varnish, and some general resemblance to Italian style in the work. He died in 1790. There were two makers named George, the second of whom died in 1797, and produced some highly finished work with brilliant varnish, but of Stainer model. Of the three Josephs, the latest, who was alive in 1798, seems to have adopted a type of fiddle which has since been extensively imitated and has an outline of more Amati appearance than that of his predecessors. Sebastian I. was a son of the first Matthias, and is usually reckoned the best maker of the family; he worked until about 1750, and produced good-sized fiddles, the best of which have handsome wood and flatter arching than those of his father; but Stainer traditions were evidently deeply implanted in him, and he never entirely discarded them. Several of the family adopted lion-heads with more or less frequency. Those of the first George are very well carved. Kloz scrolls are not artistic, though they are distinctive enough. Genuine Kloz fiddles of one grade or another are plentiful enough, but the celebrity at one time attaching to the name has led to numberless forgeries, many of which figure in pawnshops, and bear little or no resemblance to the originals.
KNILLING.—Mittenwald; eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There were well over a dozen makers of this name.