Stelzner System Violotta
Made in the Richard Weichold/August Paulus Workshop
Dresden, Saxony, December 1896

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NMM 6719. Violotta made in Richard Weichold/August Paulus workshop, Dresden, Saxony, December 1896. Stelzner System. Serial no. 325. Gift of Larry Anderson and David Folland, Northfield, Minnesota, 1998.

Inscriptions: Written in black ink on brown paper label:  N^o 325. Dresden, Dec. 96. / Dr. Alfred Stelzner inv.

Branded on inside of back above label, the first line of text curved downward at each end:  NACH D^r ALFRED STELZNER’S / — · — / SYSTEM

Branded on lower rib near endpin, under varnish: N^o [to bass side of endpin] ["o" underline incised] / 3 2 5 [to treble side of endpin, each number branded with separate die]

Top:  two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: narrow grain broadening toward the flanks.
Back:  two-piece, quarter-cut maple: broad curl descending from center joint.
Ribs:  quarter-cut maple: broad curl angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; lower ribs divided by purfling strip; rib corners chamfered.
Head and neck:  maple: very broad curl; long pegbox with shoulders; neck angled steeply back.
Edging:  re-curve extends close to edge, forming ridge.
Varnish:  dark red with fine craquelure.
Fingerboard:  ebony; beveled at G-string position.
Nut:  ebony.
Tailpiece:  ebony; fluted face with scalloped lower edge; molded saddle carved rather than inlaid.
Tailgut:  plain gut.
Pegs:  four varnished ebony.
Saddle:  ebony.
Endpin:  ebony.
Bridge:  tall bridge with fancy heart, small circular kidneys below angled, fancy kidneys, and tall, violoncello-bridge-style feet.
F-holes:  leaf-shaped eyes; rounded wings; notch corners rounded.
Linings:  light hardwood; extend over corner blocks.
Corner blocks:  spruce.
Top block:  spruce; triangular with concave sides.
Bottom block:  spruce; triangular with concave sides.

Original black-painted, pine case with green, wool-felt lining and nickel-plated brass hardware and handle.

Lit.:  Margaret Downie Banks, "A Physicist’s Unfulfilled Prophecy: Alfred Stelzner’s Experiment in Violin Reform," America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 26, No. 2 (May 1999), pp. 4-5.

James Christensen, "Dr. Stelzner’s Original Instruments," The Strad 112, No. 1338 (October 2001) p. 1125.

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Go to Checklist of Stelzner System Bowed Stringed Instruments

Go to Dr. Alfred Stelzner: Pioneer in Violin Acoustics," by James Christensen

Go to James Christensen's Stelzner Research Archive at the NMM

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