Saxony ‘Haselfichte’ Mid to Late 19th C. (GE012) SOLD

Saxony ‘Haselfichte’ Mid to Late 19th C. (GE012) SOLD

‘Haselfichte’ in German, ‘maschiattura,’ abete ‘maschiatto’, in Italian or ‘bear claw’ spruce in English refers to the irregular markings on the front of this wonderful old German cello. Haselfichte is a rare form of spruce tonal wood, one estimate is that only one in forty trees displays the pattern. It was highly prized by some of the great luthiers through history - Stradivari, Montagnana & Del Gesù all made instruments featuring it. The wood is thought to have superior tonal qualities and luthiers today expect to pay more for it. It is rare to find Haselfichte in an old Saxon cello.

There are a couple of rib cracks that have been repaired well and the instrument has been professionally set up with a new bridge, sound post and tailpiece along with decent strings.

The cello is slightly smaller with a length of back of 745mm.

Saxony

String instrument making in the region of Saxony, Germany can be traced back to the 1650’s with a violin maker’s guild being first established in 1659. The instrument making region, which includes the German towns of Markneukirchen, Erlbach & Klingenthal, together with the present day Czech Republic towns of Schonbach (now Luby) & Graslitz (Kraslice), was the principal source of instruments for the trade during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The region pioneered a cottage industry in instrument manufacture, with smaller specialist workshops supplying items (pegs etc) to larger operations. The area still hosts a number of firms using traditional methods of manufacture and a fine musical instrument museum.