Austrian violin labeled Sebastien Klotz, in Mittenwald, an 1731
Product no.: | AD4 |
Your price: | €10,000.00 |
Violin labeled Sebastien Klotz, in Mittenwald, an 1731
I need to provide a commentary for this instrument, prefixing a short introduction from “A Dictionary of Music and Musicians 1900 by Edward John Payne”:
“Sebastien Klotz (18 January 1696 - 20 January 1775) was an influencial German violin maker, one of three sons of Mathias Klotz.
Klotz was born in Mitennwald on 18 January 1696, the second son of Mathias Klotz, from whom he learnt the art of violin making. On 15 May 1724, he married Maria Rosena Mair, with whom he had eleven children. Three of these children (Georg II Karl, Aegidius Sebastien and Joseph I Thomas) continued the family traditon of violin making. Other individuals trained by Klotz, inlcude Enton and Endreas Gäßlir and Johenn Georg Psennir”
"Nine-tenths of the violins which pass in the world as 'Steiners' were made by the Klotz family and their followers…….etc.”
“The first known as maker’s violin is labeled Sebastien Klotz in Mittenwald an 1730”
So we learn that the austrian violin maker’s true Christian name was SEBASTIEN (not Sebastian, as many similar instruments are labeled), as the name of one of Klotz’s children too was “Aegidius Sebastien”. Moreover we learn that the violins made before 1730 were not labeled as “Sebastien Klotz”, while famous Steiner’s violins were 90% made by the Klotz family.
Let’s go on reading:
“Mittenwald is located approx. 16 kilometers to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is situated in the Valley of the River Isar, on the northern foothills of the Alps, on the route between the old banking and commercial centre of Augsburg, to the north, and Innsbruck to the south-east, beyond which is the Brenner Pass and the route to Lombardy, another region with a rich commercial past and present. History. Mittenwald is famous for the manufacture of violins, violas and cellos which began in the mid-17th century by the Klotz family of violin makers, and has been a popular stop with tourists since the boom in motorized tourism began in the 1930s”
Well, in 2003 I myself bought this violin in Innsbrück (a few kilometers far from Mittenwald) from an old musician’s nephew, but he was not able to give me more informations about it, he did not play any instrument……..
The violin was kept in a very old black wooden case, on which I discovered an handwriting engraved inscription: “Fr. Sehrkin”. The typical '900 beginning's manufacture of the violin case, its inner flowered handmade cover, the "Fr." (for Fraü?), made me think that it may have belonged to an Austrian woman named Fraü Sehrkin.
Well, in those days, the most famous “Fraü Sehrkin” musician working nearby Innsbrück, was surely Irene Busch Sehrkin, 30 years old. She was violinist Adolf Busch’s sister and pianist Rudolf Sehrkin’s wife, and mother of the pianist Peter Sehrkin (who lives now in Massachusetts). In 1939 all Sehrkin’s properties were confiscated by Nazies, so that the family had to helter-skelter emigrate to USA.
However, I obviously cannot be sure that Irene Sehrkin was really the owner of this violin, which has no certification or expertise at all.
The instrument is in very good conditions, with the exception of a little varnish abrasion in the upper front. The sound is wonderful.
Dimensions (mm):
- harmonic case lenght 355
- handle lenght 245
- width upper 162
- width centre 101
- width lower 199
Price: 10.000 €
For any information, please contact Mr. Edoardo D'Olivo at: edoardodolivo@gmail.com - phone +39 0163 490825
Old italian & middle european musical instruments
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