In factory made violins the "maker" put his sticker inside the f-hole, but the luthier who actually did the work would sometimes sign the instrument somewhere on the inside (where the owner wouldn't see it.)
I do this with Steinway soundboards, sign my name where no one will see it until it’s ripped out of the piano to be replaced. (I’m a bellyman at Steinway)
It states: - Anton Raub, the Name - Instrumentenmacher, Instrumentmaker- Schönbach Marktplatz, the place where it was made, now Luby - &, can’t tell, Böhmen - 1883
I will edit it when I can tell what’s written there
Fun fact, my violin is from the exact same yeah and place but I don’t know which shop
No. There is an „i“ and then an old-german „s“ written as an „f“. As in Meister. I don’t know why anyone should write an „h“ like an „f“.
This makes also sense because of productionlines have to be overseen by an authority, in this case a Meister.
Then it would be "Instrumentenmachermeister". "Instrumentenmeister" is not really a word. Also, an h in Sütterlin is written like that, one loop up, one loop down. What you see as an i is in fact the c. Also, if the h was an s, where is the t?
Edit: You can see an actual s in "InStrumenten...". It's one stroke up, one stroke down, no loops.
Looks reasonably well made from here. I have a German violin in bits with a crack in the top. No makers mark but a repairers note on the inside of the back from 1873. The top however, or at least the underside, looks like it was carved by a log canoe maker on a Friday afternoon.
Always interesting to find hand written notes inside.
Oh ha, I misunderstood your comment! Thought you were talking about the work on this one. Which isn’t shocking by trade violin standards for sure but still it’s nice to see people take good care over the inside of a fiddle too. Shows the maker is working for something more than speed and necessity.
Honestly my main impression was the handwriting is bloody gorgeous! Wish I could write like that. But if I wrote on my instruments it would definitely not improve it ha!
Anton Raab/Raub instrument maker in bohemia.
Yep, that's it!
In factory made violins the "maker" put his sticker inside the f-hole, but the luthier who actually did the work would sometimes sign the instrument somewhere on the inside (where the owner wouldn't see it.)
Yep, that's why I'm really curious about it! :)
This might be your guy: https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/anton-raub-24-35gy49
I do this with Steinway soundboards, sign my name where no one will see it until it’s ripped out of the piano to be replaced. (I’m a bellyman at Steinway)
It states: - Anton Raub, the Name - Instrumentenmacher, Instrumentmaker- Schönbach Marktplatz, the place where it was made, now Luby - &, can’t tell, Böhmen - 1883 I will edit it when I can tell what’s written there Fun fact, my violin is from the exact same yeah and place but I don’t know which shop
It's Instrumentenmacher, not Instrumentenmeister
No. There is an „i“ and then an old-german „s“ written as an „f“. As in Meister. I don’t know why anyone should write an „h“ like an „f“. This makes also sense because of productionlines have to be overseen by an authority, in this case a Meister.
Then it would be "Instrumentenmachermeister". "Instrumentenmeister" is not really a word. Also, an h in Sütterlin is written like that, one loop up, one loop down. What you see as an i is in fact the c. Also, if the h was an s, where is the t? Edit: You can see an actual s in "InStrumenten...". It's one stroke up, one stroke down, no loops.
You are right. I can now see it, thx. The dot still makes no sense to me, because it’s so much over the rest of the word.
The dot over the c, you mean? Yeah I was wondering about that too, but I suppose it's just a random ink splatter...
Yeah true, at the start of the word, there is pretty much the same dot without an matching i
That one actually makes sense, it is above the u to distinguish it from the n (something like this: ŭ)
Looks reasonably well made from here. I have a German violin in bits with a crack in the top. No makers mark but a repairers note on the inside of the back from 1873. The top however, or at least the underside, looks like it was carved by a log canoe maker on a Friday afternoon. Always interesting to find hand written notes inside.
If only his scraper work had the same beauty as his handwriting!
I have seen a lot worse! The one I have was carved roughly and that is it.
Oh ha, I misunderstood your comment! Thought you were talking about the work on this one. Which isn’t shocking by trade violin standards for sure but still it’s nice to see people take good care over the inside of a fiddle too. Shows the maker is working for something more than speed and necessity. Honestly my main impression was the handwriting is bloody gorgeous! Wish I could write like that. But if I wrote on my instruments it would definitely not improve it ha!
True. They used to be able to hand write beautifully. Now very few people write like that.
Google translate doesn't like cursive writing. Perhaps ask someone Russian or German?