AN OLD VIOLIN.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18365, 24 April 1925, Page 18

AN OLD VIOLIN.

IS IT A STRAD? DISCOVERY AT RANGIORA. A Eangiora lady has an old ■• violin which may, On expert examination, be found to be a genuine Strad. Tho violin in question has a label pasted inside bearing the following inscription :—'' Antonius Stradiuvarius, Ctemoncmis, Faciebat Anno,' 1742.*' The figures 42 have been written in with ordinary ink, but the remainder of the inscription, including the 17, is printed. Tlie owner intends to have-the instrument examined by,an expert to ascertain whether it is a genuine Strad or not.

M* A. J. Astle, an English: authority 6rt Stvftd violins, says that Stradivari's model was, during his lifetime, copied by many of his contemporaries, but those copyists inserted their own labels. After his death the imitation of his violins continued, dftd sometimos copies of his label were inserted td make the facsimile complete. The copyist, however, usually placed His own label elsewhere in the interior of the violin, and was absolved from any attempt to deceive. Those might be termed the honest copyists, and although their work could not be compared with that of Stradivari, the violins made by them we'ro of considerable value, and a good specimen might be worth hundreds of pounds. As the demand for violins, and, especially for Strads increased, "Trade Fiddles" wore turned out with forgeries of Stradivari's label, and hundreds, probably thousands, of those imitation Strads were in existence. The copyists generally chose a date to put on the label which came within the period usually considered to be Stradivari's best, and the labels were dated seventeen hundred and something. A violin bearing the Stradivari ticket dated anywhere between the years 1667 and 1660 should bo examined by an expert, for there was a reasonable chance of its being genuine. After the year 1698, Stradivari printed the first figure of the dato Only, and filled in the other three figures in hia own handwriting. The forgers, however, generally printed the first two figures of the date, and filled in ths other two with the pen, and made no attempt to imitate Stradivari's characteristic handwriting. Should the 17. on the label be printed, it might be taken for granted that the ticket -was a forgery, and the violin ail inferior copy. • - Stradivari lived to a great age, and a typical violin of his last period is the "Muntz" Strad, dated 1736, in Which year Stradivari attained the age of ninety-two. He died a year later, in tho vear 1737, five years before the date noted on the label in the violin belonging to the Uangiora lady.