Martin Leopold Widhalm (II), Nuremberg, 1782

Description

A fine German violin by Martin Leopold Widhalm (II), Nuremberg, 1782.
Labelled: Leopold Widhalm Lauten – und / Geigenmacher in Nürnberg. fecit A.1782 [last 2 digits ms.], further branded L W interspersed with an impression of the bicephalic eagle emblem of ducal court of Nürnberg.

Martin Leopold (II) Widhalm was the second in a dynasty of makers to the ducal court in Nuremberg that holds a reputation as the leading German makers after Jacob Stainer. An orthodoxy reported in older dictionaries of musical instruments tends to consider Leopold (I) the finer maker and his descendants of incrementally lower standard, but modern recent research about the family and their works paints a more complex picture in which the quality of production tends to follow the economic fortunes of the city: All generations were capable of outstanding work when the circumstances favoured them. Martin Leopold (II) continued to use his father’s label and brand-stamp and his instruments can only be differentiated by the years in which they were made. This specimen is made six years after his father’s death, and is an example of the highest standard of work from the Widhalm family.

Whilst the majority of Widhalm-family work is centred on the patterns of Jacob Stainer, this instrument is somewhat different, adopting an outline that responds closely to the Cremonese ‘grand-pattern’, giving it considerably more breadth. The effort to assert a Stainer-style arching onto this wider model mirrors the thought process of many Venetian makers who also looked to blend the two influences, and it creates an instrument of compelling quality of dark and rich tone and understated power. An Italian instrument that is conceptually very similar to this would be many times more costly to acquire. Instruments of this pattern are rare within Widhalm’s work, and the fact that they are more often attributable to the later members of the family echoes the rising dominance of Italian patterns within German making at the end of the eighteenth century.

Of Widhalm and the Viennese maker Daniel Albrecht Stadlmann, the early expert, author and violin maker to the Weimar Court, Jacob August Otto wrote the following in 1814:

These makers have constructed their instruments with great care and skill; and a good unspoiled violin of Statelmann of Vienna is preferable to the best Tyrolese [i.e. Klotz], as he used superior wood for the belly, and so admirably imitated Jacob Steiner’s violins, that his own rank next to them in merit. After Statelmann comes Leopold Withalm [sic], of Nuremberg whose instruments so closely resemble Steiner’s in their exterior that it requires a great connoisseur to distinguish them from his.

Stadlmann’s violins are so rare that they barely factor into the conversation (I previously handled an extraordinary mute viola d’amore by this maker), but otherwise Otto’s commentary placing Widhalm in the very highest rung of German making rings as true today as it did over 200 years ago. As the most sought-after amongst professional musicians in Germany. Otto’s praise has remained relevant to this day. As an instrument representative of the high point of German making in the period of Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven there are few better instruments to consider.

Certificate: Our certificate available upon purchase.

Condition notes: There is some sensitive varnish restoration to the belly, but it is unusual to find Widhalm instruments with the quantity of red varnish that is found on this example because it takes notoriously long to stabilise, and often the red varnish is removed to make the instruments better resemble the workof Stainer. The varnish is now stable. Overall the violin is in a superb state of preservation, having been restored in the mid-20th century by W.E. Hill & Sons. The scroll is original and an outstanding example made in pearwood, which is a noted feature of some of Widhalm’s work following after Jacob Stainer, and it is characteristic of the maker’s work. Length of back 354mm.

Literature: The authoritative study on the Widhalm family is Klaus Martius, Leopold Widhalm und der Nürnberger Lauten- und Geigenbau im 18. Jahrhundert Frankfurt, Verlag Erwin Bochinsky, 1997.