But yesterday I played a gig
with Sherry and Don and Rosa, a young woman recently out of school.
I’d given Rosa on indefinite loan
an interesting fiddle I wasn’t using—
antiqued—that is, marked and gouged
to make it look older than it was,
Caspar da Salo carved on the back.
Mark Wagar told me,
possibly made in Eastern Europe fifty to a hundred years ago—
top too heavy for it ever to be valuable, but a genuine
attempt at a Caspar da Salo copy (early 18th-century
Italian maker pre-dating Stradivarius; most cheap violins
are Stradivarius copies). And my friend, Dr. Wendy Adams,
a classical violinist, once said she liked
the big, pleasant sound it made.
Da Salo had a characteristic double purfling
around the top—Lee Guthrie told me it was painted on
(I don't think he looked closely), but Mark said, no,
someone took the trouble to do an entire
double inlay—hours of work.
The antiquing job was probably by a later seller.
So, evidently, built with love from factory-cut materials.
Rosa said she was keeping it at the Celtic Junction,
using it as her teaching fiddle.
Warmed my heart to hear.an interesting fiddle I wasn’t using—
antiqued—that is, marked and gouged
to make it look older than it was,
Caspar da Salo carved on the back.
Mark Wagar told me,
possibly made in Eastern Europe fifty to a hundred years ago—
top too heavy for it ever to be valuable, but a genuine
attempt at a Caspar da Salo copy (early 18th-century
Italian maker pre-dating Stradivarius; most cheap violins
are Stradivarius copies). And my friend, Dr. Wendy Adams,
a classical violinist, once said she liked
the big, pleasant sound it made.
Da Salo had a characteristic double purfling
around the top—Lee Guthrie told me it was painted on
(I don't think he looked closely), but Mark said, no,
someone took the trouble to do an entire
double inlay—hours of work.
The antiquing job was probably by a later seller.
So, evidently, built with love from factory-cut materials.
Rosa said she was keeping it at the Celtic Junction,
using it as her teaching fiddle.
