Carl Gottlob Schonfelder Violin – Markneukirchen/Saxony circa 1815

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A violin made by Carl Gottlob Schonfelder (1789-1876) who lived and worked in Markneukirchen, Germany. The violin has many features that are true Saxonian work of his period. Broad modeling, which appears when you look at the violin head on, but the numbers don’t make that an issue. The lower to medium arching in the plates is also typical of his Saxony time period. The sound holes are positioned rather upright and are sweeping in design. Schonfelder’s scroll is reminiscent of Amati, simple with a slight droop to the overall head. The oil varnish is a light golden brown on a golden/yellow base. All hand drawn. The violin has been grafted, and the pegs have been bushed even in the graft. The bushing and peg work are well done, and the graft was done in the late 1800’s and the bushings later. The top is a fine-grained spruce plate. The back is one-piece maple and has medium-width curl with matching ribs. The back is a total Wow! The ribs match in degree of flame. Carl Gottlob was a fine maker at the height of the German violin making renaissance in the Saxony region. He was part of a family of makers dating back to the 17th century, one of which was Johann Schönfelder, who started the Violin Makers Guild in Markneukirchen in 1677. The label for the instrument is found on the inside treble side rib. We have meticulously gone over the entire instrument and checked everything inside and out. The fittings are in ebony, and we have cut a 200-year-old piece of maple for the bridge. The top plate is solid and is in excellent condition for its age. The back tongue has an ebony crown. The instrument has top shelf workmanship, lovely patina, and beautiful woods. The wood used in this violin could have been a young seedling starting to grow in the late 1600’s. The 120– 140-year-old spruce and maple trees would have been harvested and made into quarter sawn cuts and then set up to dry for 15-20 more years before the violin was even begun. The workmanship is fine to excellent, and the varnish quality is brilliant in clarity.

Corpus 357.0 mm – Major Width 201.0 mm – Minor Width 165.5 mm – Rib Height Ranges from 29.0 – 30.0 mm

In tonal character the violin has a warm, mature stunning tonal color The bass side has some guts – just a little bit of an edge, not just power. The moment I started playing it, the instrument hit me as a WOW! Not too much power but a big, large, full tone. The vibrant bottom sound is complemented with an engaging powerful treble E and A strings. The instrument is lightweight and produces a sound on the treble side that is as equally alive as the bass side. The violin is responsive and is simply easy to play. A professional might also say it’s smooth.