Images from the Study-Storage Collections Two 19th-century Mute Violins Front: NMM 1300. Violin (mute), England, ca. 1850-1900. Mute violin possibly constructed from remains of an early 19th-century English violin, whose scroll, neck, tailpiece, and ebony peg might have been recycled. Anchor-shaped outline with handrest for higher playing positions. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. Back: NMM 4130. Violin (mute), Markneukirchen and/or Schönbach (Luby), ca. 1870-1910. Cornerless, guitar-shaped frame cut from one piece of plain maple, with separate, arched maple brace set into top at bridge position. Gift of William E. Gribbon, Greenfield, Massachusetts, 1987. Mute violins, which have no resonating chamber to amplify the sound, were built so that individuals could practice without disturbing their neighbors. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's father, Leopold (1719-1787), described similar such "practice violins" in his famous violin tutor, A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing, first published in Augsburg in 1756, the year that Wolfgang was born.   Click arrow to continue Study-Storage Collections Tour Go to Study-Storage Collections Tour Index Go to Virtual Gallery Tour Index Go to Annotated Checklist of Violins Made Between 1850-1874 National Music Museum The University of South Dakota 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD   57069 ©National Music Museum, 2002-2005 Most recent update:   October 24, 2007 You are the 880th visitor to this page since August 11, 2003. Between June 22, 2003-August 11, 2003, this page received 1,699 hits. The University of South Dakota Return to Top of Page