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Lowendall Fiddle please help

Lowendall Fiddle please help

Hey guys!
I've just bought a violin and I've been told that it was made in the workshops of Louis Lowendall, or Lowenthal. I've done a net search and can find lots of Lowendalls for sale but not much info on them - can anyone tell me where I can get some more info on Lowendall and his violins?
Thanks
Franny

# Posted on June 13th 2004 by frannyc

Re: Lowendall Fiddle please help

I think they've been around since the 18c. And, if my memory serves me correct, Martin Hayes has a particularly fine-sounding 18c model which he played at St George's in Bristol (UK) last year.
Trevor

# Posted on June 13th 2004 by Trevor Jennings

Re: Lowendall Fiddle please help

Louis Lowendall was a German violin maker, based in Berlin around the late 1880s. He contracted with Sears Roebuck to sell his fiddles through their catalog. Eventually, he moved his shop to the US, and continued supplying Sears.

I owned a Lowendall once. Nice wood, well made, a little chunky on the neck, but a very decent fiddle. Perhaps it was not his best attempt. Some high-end shops look down their noses at Lowendalls because of the Sears catalog connection, and the fact that they are shop violins, made by a team of apprentices rather than each one carved by Lowendall himself. Whatever. Some of them really sing. I've seen prices on the web and in shops range from $1,000 to $9,000 USD.

# Posted on June 14th 2004 by Will Harmon

Re: Lowendall Fiddle please help

Thanks guys that's great - keep them coming!
F
x

# Posted on June 14th 2004 by frannyc

Re: Lowendall Fiddle please help

Hi, I'm from Sweden and I own a Lowendall. It's a really nice violin, but I haven't found out that much of Lowendall himself, but I'm going to the library of Stockholm to find out, because I haven't found out that much on the web!

# Posted on November 15th 2004 by axelw

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