Viola by Kurt Lothar Meisel, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1979

NMM 6142. Viola by Kurt Lothar Meisel, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1979. Guarneri model. This viola won an award for tone at the Violin Society of America's International Competition in 1980. Gift of Stephen Meisel, Columbia, South Carolina, 1998.

Inscriptions:

• Printed in brown ink on paper label with lined texture, the signature in blue ballpoint pen, the serial number, length, location, and year in black ink: KQ 77 / [bird on branch] Lothar Meisel [signature] SINCE / 1660 / 16" K. LOTHAR MEISEL [KLM monogram over lyre] / OWATONNA MINNESOTA 1979. The bird on the label represents the family branch, known as the "Bird" Meisels.
• 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 treble side of center joint: K.L.MEISEL 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 tailpiece: K.L.MEISEL
• Branded on bridge, toward fingerboard: OWATONNA/MINN.
• Written in black ink on long, narrow paper label with cut corners, visible through treble f-hole: AWARD FOR TONE / 1980 – VSA – INTERN. COMPETITION

Top:  two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: fine grain.

Back:  two-piece, quarter-cut maple from the Carpathain Mountains: prominent, narrow curl descending from center joint; maple dowel through back into top block; maple dowel through back into bottom block.

Ribs:  quarter-cut maple: prominent, narrow curl angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; lower ribs divided by wide ebony strip; rib corners slightly rounded.

Head and Neck:  maple: narrow curl; inside of pegbox stained black.

Edging:  full, rounded edges.

Purfling:  maple and black-stained maple; wide center strip.

Varnish:  medium orange with slight craquelure.

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.

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 in upper and lower bouts; inside of body stained light brown.

Lit.:  K. Lothar Meisel with Betty Vos, The Meisel Family Violin Makers:  Klingenthal, Vogtland, Saxony (Ely, Minnesota: Singing River Publications, Inc., 2007), pp. 256-258.

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