Violin (1/4 size)
date: label: Date made
content: 1878 - 1882
notes: label: Description
content: This violin was made in Mirecourt, France around 1880. This commercial ¼ size “Boys’” instrument is listed in the 1880 Foote catalog, item #5986, for $4.25 each. The violin is very cleanly made with plain ebony fittings but without purfling. Young apprentice violin makers often began training in Mirecourt before the age of 14. Among their first tasks it was common for them to make simplistic small violins such as this example. Students would be graduated to larger instruments requiring more detailed purfling as their skills, knowledge and speed developed. This violin is made of a two-piece table of spruce, two-piece back of maple with irregular, medium horizontal figure, ribs of similar maple, neck, pegbox and scroll of plain maple, and a semi-opaque orange-brown varnish.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: France: Grand Est, Mirecourt
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
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content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Violins
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Densmore, Frances. Handbook of the Collection of Musical Instruments in the United States National Museum.
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of J. Howard Foote
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MI.055684
label: catalog number
content: 55684
label: accession number
content: 11535
objectType: label: Object Name
content: violin
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ebony (tail piece; finger board; tuning pegs material)
label: Physical Description
content: spruce (table material)
label: Physical Description
content: maple (back material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 18 1/8 in x 5 3/8 in x 2 3/4 in; 46.0375 cm x 13.6525 cm x 6.985 cm