Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-04-11
FAMOUS VlOLINS.


| way up a fight Of stairs and found my
] SELF Ia the middle II the seventeenth
/ century. iu tho land Of angel song. iu %
! room filed with precious violius made
! by masters generations ago. IT was az
| 81 Fifth avenue.
! Treasures aud their value ia money was
/ about 5000 apiece. Their value 90 a
| man OF woman who has such q thing as
a soul was beyond all calculation.
a yong artist with features ciit Ike
ramo eyes full OF some far away
/ Ideal. mot me aud played for nee on these
| yiOlins. he being "a master in ihe art.
/ n was young Won der lloyu, whose
/ father Owls The collection. ore of the
rurcst IN the world. And they are al
| 90 be- sold
I was struck by the care shown in mr.
I ranging the viOius. Many mothers treat
/ their first born children with less eieg-
| Tomato regard Each violin had % little
soft lined nest iu cabinets prepared for
| the purpose. The temperature Of the
room was maintained 3t a certain point,
and the moisture VI the air was kept no
! just such degree with as much precision
as Is shown iu managing an Incubator.
Ono might have imagined these wonderful
,i0lins were on the point of Matching out
into something stIll more wonderful.
"a violin requires more attention than
I N To
as hc opened door after door aud showed
me treasure after treasure. III the air
becomes % shade too dry the wood cracks,
| and II 10 becomes too moist the glue
mells u The yi0llns are neglected Tor
any length Of time the terrible wool
worms bore into them and make holes
viii IA spoil the sound. There are 1900
MS which may happen % q violin that
we men and women know nothing about.
See how delicate they are. Look at this
one. II Be- au Amatt and goes with
quartet Including another violin. "a cello
and a viola. Tho four are worth $1,000.
There bold 10 boo YOU" hand. is 10 NOT
bpnuuiulf You -gy IL does not weigh %
pound, set it win ON hall with los won
durful tone. Feel how il quyers and
thrills FROM The mere sound Of ONES
voice Speak into il and you will sec
for yourself.
/ did so. and indeed the little instru.
munt seemed 90 trcmblc like frightened
bird.
After this ] saw Steiner violin worth
5000 and weighing only l3 IL ounces.
Then | saw truuctuo, also worth
$1,000 and weighing lf II ounces. The
Young man told mc II had been In his
fathers family for fifty years back
Ieurs cane 60 his eyes as he spoke of
parting with H. ] asked him 90 play a
iavOnte gir from "FWst,' first ON this
NlNIIl uuN AlINN ON lNt STEINER. I wanted
10 see n / could distinguish the differ
ence between The two Instruments
The artist played as | desired, and
both yiOlins seemed equally beautiful
still the difference was a. plain as bee
tween ray Of dancing sunlight ana the
quycrng GLANCE Of mo1ubeam. The
Steiner rlnR with sllyery tone; the Gran.
emo hlcg tpe room with it's sonorous
As listened II seemed impossible that
Fourteenth street was Just outside with
IFS busting shops and bUstlus people.
J watched the young mans face as he
held tho viOlius close % him with the
iouducss Of lover, and reflected that
tutre were other things m this common
place world worth while as wen as
"hustIiug'
We had long talk about old violins
0nd ! learned more than ! ever dreamed
of ON the subject
In the first place we spoke of tho
iunuus Str1divarMs Instruments which
arc more priced than uuySothcrs. Tho
elder Siudivnrius was h0ru iu 1914 IIr
liv,d aud worked I'm q couple of poorly
FURNISHED upper rooms In Cromouu f0r
ntnrIy l'y eight years. To-day one All
hls F'uIlu~ VIII bring anywhere from
$1,000 To $4,000 or more. und yct A.,
old man sold them IN his lifeline far
mere souc and died poor. lie married
twice and had five children, two of whom,
succeeded him In his work.
The Slwdivarius instruments ynrv r
style considerably The old man h am.
lVseu lp nave been y pupil of the gront
NN'4oIas Amatt mud his earlier years
pFuuuccd the long aud somewhat ii,ly
Instruments but graceful In arch. which
characterized the style of that mostrr
lHler ne made whit are chilled lnro
Strads,. this model being about IA IL
'lono' ia length After 400 he changed
1gIlh using wood Of different Grain
Ihe v0rmsh used vares nlso Nom,
sometimes the beautiful golden broUe
anu sometimes a red orange or unlI,
red: How those old makers pr56I',J
perts '"'"NI" 'N'
The two sons Of Antonio strndiy,ri1s
i,'uCeheo ana omohomo, produced many
INSTRUMENTS. those of Francesca h";"sS
very beautiful, although not eoual r.
lhuse of Antonio. Om0homo e,'t,.
n RIM coupled himself chiefly IN repairing
The Amat family OF violin m,ler.
ufe among the most famous m The Wor'J
U,,9oush less SO than either the Stradi-
VARIOUS or the Steiner Instruments mo
louhder OF The family was Andran Amin
VINO also lived IN Crem0na f,rtrn"to
cty during the middle of tbo slvtnsrt6
ttu'u'N' scarcely any yiulins maIn In
slnl are now in existence. one vns t,,,
'NN' lNNs AhuiFuS AmatL' ,vligb
was presented los P0pc Plus to Cbori.. !
VIZ IN. The two sous. Antonlns anJ
lllt rpnymus carried on Tho hrsi,,r,
'ek''ler ana turned ont a large pnm,her
ul me instruments Jufortt1,ntel,,
many snurOm AWAITS are in eviste,,''.
nhu Tue reputation OF the old mntnrs h,',
zen injured ~ consequences. Tile preot
KY violin maker OF This family Nos
.N'holas Amat, the son Of Hier6pvn,,s
VINO was born in 1896 aud iiyfd M tSs
good old age Of ~ His violips arn ,por',
muusl leoking than those of M prnl.
eessors Ia the firm, and the sound boI,>, I
are almost parallel, although by rmri /
Gus optical deusiOn they seen sNgbf,. I
ufeWn toward each other al the io,ra,. /
h9ii Of the stems, One OF Nicbolnl' /
,,nldren also named Hieronymus fol. |
ioWtu IN the violin trade, but chiefly as /
Two other ltllian makers who arc as
petlaly celebrated among hnudreds ~ /
,Nothefs are Gurnieri aud Berron1i /
Ahe!e We're four memhars Of tho Cunr /
mrti Family who made famous ,iolins /
thNlr tones being exquisite Ina H. nurity /
Nhu even quality ana the workmensbic /
AMI hnish being remarkably eleennf /
lne Namish used III these instrnrnents /
Mpee'ally those made by Joseph i, j !
hylWen or golden ned ~ most lovely fint /
iurso instruments are very rare AMI /
almost as valaable as the "Strhds 80"
fefgnun ws,s pupil Of Strndivari,., /
anu lived IN the e0rlY mart of fba $50 /