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Johann Baptist Schweitzer luthier
information about the man and his instruments
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micjule

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July 14, 2013 - 2:50 pm
Member Since: July 11, 2012
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does anyone know the years that Johann Baptist Schweitzer made violins and anything about his quality of violins.

I have a violin labeled

Joh. Bapt. Schweitzer

fecit ad formam

Harionym Amati Pestini 1810

 

I am curious what this violin could be worth. I plan to bring it to a local shop to get appraised. But don't know anything about this luthier. Wanted to get some information from the group before I go to the "professional"

 

please if anyone can give me some information. I have searched the internet and have come up with different and conflicting information about him .

You need to learn from the past, imagine a future, and LIVE for today... Failure is only a guarantee, when you never try

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RosinedUp

Honorary tenured advisor
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July 14, 2013 - 7:17 pm
Member Since: September 7, 2012
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micjule said

I am curious what this violin could be worth. I plan to bring it to a local shop to get appraised. But don't know anything about this luthier. Wanted to get some information from the group before I go to the "professional"

To determine the value, one would have to know whether the label is telling the truth.  Some posts on maestronet indicate that labels for that maker are often faked.

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Steve
Oregon
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July 14, 2013 - 7:48 pm
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Unless the violin has been in your family for many generations, and unless you have certificated papers for it-- it is almost guaranteed the label is a fake on a violin bearing a famous-maker label. Generally one looks at the label as the very last thing, in an appraisal.

A friend's mother recently passed away. She'd owned this violin most of her life, and played it regularly, but had never had it appraised. The heirs had it appraised for the estate by a local luthier--he apparently only went by the label and said the violin was worth up to $100,000! The heirs immediately bought a stout safe and put the violin in it, while contemplating what to do next. Eventually they learned they should get an appraisal from a genuine skilled appraiser (who would charge them for the appraisal). They made an appointment with a skilled appraiser in a large city some distance away--he didn't spend more than a minute looking at it--he could immediately tell just from the construction that the violin wasn't anything valuable. He said almost all labels on claimed-expensive violins, unless there are certified papers that have followed the violin throughout its life, are fake, and to never believe the label on a claimed-expensive violin without much more scrutiny. (The violin turned out to be German-made and was a decent one, and the appraisal was for several thousand dollars.) The heirs were actually relieved to learn this, as they were wondering what they should do with a very valuable violin. Now they could relax, and somone in the family who plays violin would be able to keep it and continue playing it in her mother's memory and not worry about it being valuable.

Unfortunately that's the way things are in the violin world, and I believe have been that way for hundreds of years.

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
July 14, 2013 - 7:54 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16429

True true....

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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