Violin by Kurt Lothar Meisel, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1971

NMM 5876. Violin by Kurt Lothar Meisel (1929-2011), Owatonna, Minnesota, 1971. Guarneri model. Serial no. 111. Gift of Kurt Lothar and Patricia A. Meisel, 1995.

NMM 5876 is the first violin in a quartet of instruments at the NMM made by Lothar Meisel (see also NMM 5877, 5878, 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 1971 No: 111. 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 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
• Stamped on lower rib below endpin: 1

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

Back:  two-piece maple cut slightly off-the-quarter: broad curl descending from center joint; two small maple dowels through back into top block, one under purfling, one inside purfling, through other dowel; two small maple dowels through back into bottom block, one under purfling, one inside purfling, through other dowel. Lothar offered different price levels of instruments when he started his business in the U.S.A. (1957). The lowest level was $350, with one location pin, or dowel, through the back at the top block, and one at the bottom block. The middle grade was $550, with one pin through the back into the top block, and two into the bottom block. The highest grade was $800, and included the two-upper and two-lower-pin configuration. After about 1967, quality level was no longer tied to the pin configuration.

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

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

Prod. Julie Kucaj, "Lothar Meisel," Arts & Minds. Bravo! News Style Arts Channel, Toronto, 30-31 Jan. 2003.

K. Lothar Meisel with Betty Vos, The Meisel Family Violin Makers:  Klingenthal, Vogtland, Saxony (Ely, Minnesota: Singing River Publications, Inc., 2007), pp. 248-249.

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

National Music Museum
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