Viola by Kurt Lothar Meisel, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1975

NMM 5878. Viola by Kurt Lothar Meisel (1929-2011), Owatonna, Minnesota, 1975. Guarneri model. Serial no. 16. Gift of Kurt Lothar and Patricia A. Meisel, Owatonna, 1995.

NMM 5878 is the viola in a quartet of instruments at the NMM made by Lothar Meisel (see also NMM 5876, 5877, and 5879).

Inscriptions:

• Printed in brown ink on paper label with lined texture and wavy-line border, the location, last two digits of year, and serial number written in black ink, signed "Lothar Meisel" in blue ballpoint pen over label text: [bird on branch] K. Lothar Meisel [KLM monogram over lyre] / Violinmaker and Repairer / from Klingenthal, Germany / OWATONNA / MINNESOTA 1975 No: 16. The bird on the label represents the family branch, known as the "Bird" Meisels.
• Written in pencil on inside of top, upper treble bout: Lothar Meisel [signature] / #16 / JAN. 23.75 / ( [illegible] / [illegible] )
• Branded on inside of back, visible through treble f-hole: [large typeface] K.L.MEISEL OWATONNA/MINN.
• Branded on inside of back in front of top block, to bass side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL
• Branded on inside of back in front of top block, to treble side of center joint: OWATONNA/MINN.
• Branded on inside of back in front of bottom block, to treble side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL
• Branded on inside of back in front of bottom block, to bass side of center joint: OWATONNA/MINN.
• Branded on inside of top in front of top block, to treble side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL
• Branded on inside of top in front of top block, to bass side of center joint: OWATONNA/MINN.
• Branded on inside of top in front of bottom block, to bass side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL
• Branded on inside of top in front of bottom block, to treble side of center joint: OWATONNA/MINN.
• Branded on inside of top between center joint and bassbar: [large typeface] K.L.MEISEL
• Branded in inside of top between center joint and treble f-hole: OWATONNA/MINN.
• Branded on base of neck heel, under fingerboard: [large typeface] K.L.MEISEL
• Branded on bridge, toward fingerboard: K.L.MEISEL
• Stamped on lower rib above endpin: Q

Top:  two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: fine grain broadening then narrowing toward the flanks.

Back:  two-piece, quarter-cut maple: prominent, medium curl descending steeply from center joint; maple dowel through back into top block; two maple dowels through back into bottom block, one on each side of center joint, spaced 13 mm apart.

Ribs: quarter-cut maple: prominent, medium curl angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; lower ribs divided by two purfling strip and one wide pernambuco strip; rib corners slightly rounded.

Head and Neck: maple: prominent, medium curl; pegbox with shoulders; inside stained black.

Edging: full, rounded edges.

Purfling: maple and pearwood; wide center strip.

Varnish:  medium orange; wood texture visible through varnish, resulting in a matte effect.

Fingerboard: ebony; made by Josef Klier, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach.

Nut: ebony.

Tailpiece: rosewood; beveled face; ivory saddle; made by Herfried Werner, Bubenreuth, originally from Ursprung, Czechoslovakia, near Schönbach.

Tailgut: black plastic.

Pegs: four rosewood with ivory pins; undercut heads; made by Emil Lorenz, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach

Saddle: ebony.

Endpin: rosewood with ivory pin; made by Emil Lorenz, Bubenreuth, originally from Schönbach.

F-holes: steeply pointed wings; lower wings channeled; inside edges stained black.

Linings: basswood.

Corner blocks: basswood.

Top block: spruce.

Bottom block: basswood.

Other: spruce cleats along inside of top center joint; maple cleats along inside of back center joint; inside of body stained light brown.

Lit.:  André P. Larson, "A Salute to the Instrument Makers of the Vogtland, Including Nine Generations of the Meisel Family," The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 23, No. 1 (October 1995) p. 6.

K. Lothar Meisel with Betty Vos, The Meisel Family Violin Makers:  Klingenthal, Vogtland, Saxony (Ely, Minnesota: Singing River Publications, Inc., 2007), pp. 252-253.

The NMM preserves violins from each of eight generations of the Meisel family.

National Music Museum
The University of South Dakota
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD   57069