Violin by Kurt Lothar Meisel, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1996

NMM 6146. Violin by Kurt Lothar Meisel (1929-2011), Owatonna, Minnesota, 1996. Serial code: KRP. After an incident in which Canadian customs asked Lothar for the serial number on an instrument he was taking over the border, it occurred to the luthier that serial numbers imply mass-production rather than fine hand craftsmanship. Subsequently, Lothar devised a new serial-code system for his instruments, the interpretation of which he has chosen not to reveal. Gift of Kurt Lothar and Patricia A. Meisel, Owatonna, 1998.

Kurt Lothar Meisel Lothar Meisel examines one of the Meisel Family violins during a visit to the NMM in 2003.

Inscriptions:

• Printed in brown ink on paper label with lined texture, the model name, location, year, and KRP written in black ink, the signature in blue ink: [bird on branch] KRP Lothar Meisel [signature] / K. LOTHAR MEISEL SINCE / 1660 / 9th GENERATION VIOLIN MAKER [KLM monogram over lyre] / [along right side] "MEISEL" / MODEL / OWATONNA MINNESOTA 1996. The bird on the label represents the family branch, known as the "Bird" Meisels.
• Signed in pencil on inside of back, upper treble bout: Lothar Meisel / KRP 2 - 1996
• Written in pencil on inside of top, upper treble bout: 9TH GENERATION / Lothar Meisel [signature] -2-21-29 IN KLINGENTHAL / [slash in text] VOGTLAND / KRP 2-1996
• 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: [large typeface] 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 base of neck heel, under fingerboard: K.L.MEISEL
• Branded on bridge, toward fingerboard: OWATONNA/MINN.
• Branded on bridge, toward tailpiece: K.L.MEISEL
• Written in black ink on inside of back, upper bouts: IN ERRINERUNG & EHRE: / IN MEMORY & HONOR: / OF / KARL OSWALD MEISEL / {[right side] 7th GENERATION & DESIGNER OF THE / "MEISEL" MODEL} / {[left side] KLINGENTHAL / VOGTL. / *AUG. 28, 1878 + JAN. 8, 1935} / AND / KURT OSWALD MEISEL 8th GENERATION / * KLINGENTHAL / VOGTL. – 7. AUG. 1903 / + OWATONNA /MN. – 30. AUG. 1995.
• Written in pencil on bass bridge foot: M

Top:  two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain broadening toward the flanks.

Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: broad curl descending from center joint; small maple dowel through back into top block; small maple dowel through back into bottom block.

Ribs: quarter-cut maple: medium curl angled to left; lower ribs divided by two wide ebony strips and one wide pernambuco strip; rib corners chamfered.

Head and Neck: maple: medium curl; light orange-brown stain on neck.

Edging: full, rounded edges.

Purfling: maple and pearwood.

Varnish:  medium orange-brown.

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

Nut: ebony.

Tailpiece: ebony; engraved red-gold lyre inlaid in face; tulip-shaped.

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.

Linings: basswood.

Corner blocks: basswood.

Top block: spruce.

Bottom block: basswood.

Other: lower bass rib reinforced with birch veneer at chinrest position; inside of body stained light brown.

Lit.:  Russell Scott Smith, "The Last Waltz:  Owatonna Violinmaker Lothar Meisel Embodies 300 Years of Family Tradition—A Tradition that Will Soon Come to an End," Minnesota Monthly 30, No. 12 (December 1996), pp. 60-65, 137-138.

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. 260-263.

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

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