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 You have an Old Violin – So what do you have?
  Since the Time of Antonio Stradivari, labels have been changed to give instruments the attribution to a more famous maker.  Even among other famous wonderful Italian violin makers, their labels have been replaced with the label that states “Antonio Stradivari” as the maker.  
 

 

   Antonio Stradivari was born in 1644, and established his shop in Cremona, Italy, where he remained active until his death in 1737. His interpretation of geometry and design for the violin has served as a conceptual model for violin makers for more than 250 years. Stradivari also made harps, guitars, violas, and cellos--more than 1,100 instruments in all, by current estimate. About 650 of these instruments survive today 
   
 
   In addition, thousands of violins have been made in tribute to Stradivari, copying his model and bearing labels that read "Stradivarius." Therefore, the presence of a Stradivarius label in a violin has no bearing on whether the instrument is a genuine work of Stradivari himself
  
 
 
  Affixing a label with the master’s name was not intended to deceive the purchaser but rather to indicate the model around which an instrument was designed. At that time, the purchaser knew he was buying an inexpensive violin and accepted the label as a reference to its derivation. As people rediscover these instruments today, the knowledge of where they came from is lost, and the labels can be misleading.


    A violin's authenticity (i.e., whether it is the product of the maker whose label or signature it bears) can only be determined through comparative study of design, model wood characteristics, and varnish texture. This expertise is gained through examination of hundreds or even thousands of instruments, and there is no substitute for an experienced eye.
     
     
 

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