DHV:
1563
Tourin ID:
Size:
Bass
Place Made:
Maker:
D
Leipzig
Johann Christian
Hoffmann
Date:
Label Text:
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
D
Potsdam
No. of Strings:
6
Collection:
Private Collection
Sound Holes:
C
Catalog Number:
Head:
Female
Private Owner:
Yes
Previous Owner:
Private owner, D-Schneeberg, -2007
Measurements:
Body Length:
63.6
String Length:
61.2
Rib Depth:
12.5
Upper Width:
30.6
Middle Width:
22.5
Bottom Width:
36.3
Information
Source:
Martius 2015, pp. 346-47; K. Martius to TGM, 3/14; TGM visit (with K. Martius), 11/10
Literature:
Martius 2015, pp. 346-47
Photographs:
Martius 2015, pp. 248 (head F+S [color]), 346-47 (FB+S, head B+S, remnants of label [color]); [unpublished, from owner: FB+S, head 3/4, B+S, C bouts (color)]; [by TGM: remnants of label (color)]
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Martius JCH 08. Not in list by Leonard & Martius 1990; Martius confirms it’s a new discovery since then. Table with rosette (exceptional for this maker) and double purfling, very high arching with slight recurve; bass bar not original. Back with no purfling and 3 crossbars plus soundpost plate; very wide wood lining on back center joint; back and ribs have strong and closely spaced flames. Original pegbox with carved back and sides (small piercings in back) grafted to non-original neck; head old and similar but not identical to other Hoffmanns. Neck and fittings probably from first third of 20th C., including solid ebony fingerboard and sculpted tailpiece, both with diagonal ends nearest bridge; tailgut now but formerly hookbar; when seen, all strings metal with fine tuner for top D. Varnish “ganz schön”. A few tiny fragments of label remain; as of 3/14, KM reports that Veit Heller recognized them as matching the inscriptions used by JCH in the early 1720s, suggesting that this is his earliest extant viol; also much smaller than others.