Viola by Kurt Lothar Meisel, Owatonna, Minnesota, 1975

NMM 5878. Viola by Kurt Lothar Meisel (b. 1929), Owatonna, Minnesota, 1975. Guarneri model. Serial no. 16. Gift of Kurt Lothar and Patricia A. Meisel, Owatonna, 1995.

NMM 5878 is the viola in a quartet of instruments at the NMM made by Lothar Meisel (see also NMM 5876, 5877, 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 1975 No: 16. The bird on the label represents the family branch, known as the "Bird" Meisels.
• Written in pencil on inside of top, upper treble bout: Lothar Meisel [signature] / #16 / JAN. 23.75 / ( [illegible] / [illegible] )
• 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

Top:  two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: fine grain broadening then narrowing toward the flanks.

Back:  two-piece, quarter-cut maple: prominent, medium curl descending steeply from center joint; maple dowel through back into top block; two maple dowels through back into bottom block, one on each side of center joint, spaced 13 mm apart.

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

Head and Neck: maple: prominent, medium curl; pegbox with shoulders; inside 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; 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.

K. Lothar Meisel with Betty Vos, The Meisel Family Violin Makers:  Klingenthal, Vogtland, Saxony (Ely, Minnesota: Singing River Publications, Inc., 2007), pp. 252-253.

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

National Music Museum
The University of South Dakota
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD   57069