Summary

Violin in wooden case with label indicating it is a Stradivarius model dated 1737. The case also contains a cluster of small pieces of paper and other detritus from playing. The Stradivarius name was used on a large number of violins after the death of Antonio Stradivari in 1737. It is likely that this example was made in the late 19th or early 20th century, similar to a '$6.95 Genuine Stradivarius Model...in imitation of an old violin' advertised in a Sears, Roebuck catalogue published in New York in 1902 (p.190).

According to the donor, the violin was used by Mrs Sarah Jackson, nee Nairn, who played with a small band at a pub in Warragul near the railway line to support her three children following the death of her husband Arthur in a farming accident, some time between about 1915 and 1925. (Note: a violin teacher by the name of Mr J.A. Nairn advertised his services from Hawthorn in 1911 - possibly a relative?.) During this time Sarah met a train driver who used to stay at the pub as part of his long haul train journeys. Nicknamed Pop, he was a widower with four children. A marriage of convenience between Sarah and Pop meant that Sarah regained her two eldest children from the orphanage. Sarah's three children and Pop's four children joined together to form a family unit. They all moved to a large house in Doncaster Street, Ascot Vale, around 1923.

Physical Description

Violin in hinged wooden case. Violin is varnished deep red-brown, with lyre motif on tailpiece. It is battered in places: the back neck varnish has worn off from use, and it has only two of four strings in place, with one broken string partly attached and another completely detached. One of the pegs has a broken handle. The bow - still strung - is secured to the lid with a pivoting bracket and cardboard loop. (The lid has a space for a second bow.) The violin compartment is lined with green felt, with insect damage; the other compartments and lid are is lined with speckled green paper, now browned and foxed in places. The other base compartments contain a cluster of small pieces of paper and other detritus from playing: four envelopes which would have contained strings; a newspaper cutting; three pieces of mother-of-pearl which have fallen off the pegs; a spare peg; two broken segments, probably from pegs; a spare bridge; two pieces of resin; and a small tuning whistle in a printed metal cylinder.

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