SCHUSTER.—Markneukirchen. Another horde of makers. They manufacture very cheap trade instruments.
SCHUSTER, Joseph Anton.—Schönbach; eighteenth century. Good work.
SCHWARTZ.—Strasburg; nineteenth century. Four or more of the name were instrument makers. One, named George Friederich, was a good bow-maker.
SCHWEITZER, Johann Baptist.—Budapest. Died 1865. An excellent copyist of Italian work. He was a pupil of Geissenhof of Vienna. Red-brown varnish. Innumerable instruments purporting to be his work and labelled to that effect have been made in Markneukirchen. These instruments are of a common class, and examples of them are constantly met with in this country.
SEELOS.—Innsbruck; seventeenth century. Stainer school. Work not often seen. Georg Seelos used a label printed in gold lettering.
SEIFERT, Otto.—Berlin. Born Markneukirchen, 1866. Maker of the much-advertised “New Cremona” violins, the plates of which are attuned according to a system devised by Dr. Grossmann. These instruments are well finished.
SEIZ OR SEITZ.—Mittenwald; eighteenth century. There were a large number of the name. Many of the instruments are of a useful type and have a good tone.
SERAPHIN, Santo.—Venice. Born at Udine about 1675-80, worked, according to labels, until about 1748 or later. No neater workman ever lived. His copies of Niccolò Amati’s “grand” pattern are very handsome, and, as Hart remarks, are often very like the instruments of Francesco Rugeri. Varnish a very fine red, but now and then the colour is lighter. Unfortunately the greater number of his works are of German character, so far as outline, modelling, and sound holes are concerned. Apparently Venetian patrons admired the Stainer form, as numbers of the violin-makers in Venice designed their work more or less closely upon it. The scrolls are very well cut but generally rather weak looking. Some magnificent violoncellos are known, and he is said to have excelled in double basses. The tone of Seraphin’s violins is sometimes disappointing. Some specimens handled by the writer, however, have left little to complain of on that score. He branded his work under the tail pin, and used large ornamentally engraved labels. A nephew named George Seraphin, who also branded his instruments, seems to have worked at about the same time.
SERDET, Paul.—Paris. Born Mirecourt, 1858. A well-known dealer and judge of old instruments and a fine workman. Was a pupil of the excellent maker Gaillard.
SILVESTRE, Pierre.—Lyons. Born 1801. Died 1859. His work is distinguished by superb finish, and the tone of the instruments is of excellent quality. In this country they now command high prices. Most of them are of Stradivari build, but occasionally Amati or Guarneri copies are met with. The varnish on many of them is a fine red of much brilliance and excellent quality. The widths of his Strad copies are a trifle greater than those of the originals. The purfling, generally rather narrow, is inserted with unsurpassable neatness. Moreover, he did not “mature” his wood by artificial means as did J. B. Vuillaume for a considerable period. After leaving his instructor (Blaise of Mirecourt, q.v.) he worked for a time with Lupot, and with Gand, his successor. He began business in Lyons in 1829, and from 1831 to 1848 was in partnership with his younger brother, Hippolyte. The instruments bearing the joint labels of the brothers are well made, but by no means up to the standard of those made by Pierre alone. Their appearance is more that of a first-class factory instrument, and they are consequently of minor value and importance.