(via email) Dear Ryan,
I found an old violin several years ago in an old turn of the
century theater before it was torn down. I realize many old violins
carry the Stradivarius label. I was told by one dealer that one
could
distinguish a Strad by the blocks of wood glued inside the violin.
He supposedly was the only maker who did this.
My label reads Antonius Stradivarius Cremonanlis Faciebat Anno
with the AS + insignia. There appears to be a date of 1718, but
it is not very legible. However, penciled in on the inside of
the violin is a date of 1730 that is preceded by Aar. I have no
idea what this means and hoped you could maybe help me.
The violin is in perfect condition with a one piece back. It is
definitely hand made. It is complete with three bows and has a
very old case made of wood that appears to be overlaid with a
very old type of leather material. I would be interested to know
if the worth of the old violin might be worth my while for investigating.
Thanking you in advance,
A. P.
Hi A,
Thousands of makers try to copy Strads as exactly as they can,
and so add the same blocks as he did. I own a beautiful and high
quality strad copy myself. The maker actually scratched it and
gouged it purposefully to make it look exactly like the real strad
he was copying! Labels are often meaningless.
Your violin must be in the hands of a knowledgeable person to
tell anything about its condition, value, age, etc. Imagine buying
a used car over the internet with out seeing it, getting in it,
starting it up, driving it: "1992 Dodge pickup, great condition,
new paint job, make offer."
I have to admit though, someone last week actually sent me a dozen
close up pictures of a violin via email. It looked nice, but I
still had to give him essentially the same advice as I'm offering
you.
If you have access to my web page, and can check my performing
schedule, bring your violin along to somewhere that I'll be, and
I'll look at it, if you live close enough. If I were you though,
I'd get several opinions! I've also written an excellent (and
inexpensive) do-it-yourself book on
how to evaluate the quality of old (or new) violins.
good luck!
Ryan