Max Mockel
This violin has now sold.
About Max Mockel
Max Mockel was taught by his father, the Berlin luthier Oswald Mockel. Like his father, he made very refined and beautiful instruments. The younger Mockel worked in several places, including Warsaw, Moscow, St Petersburg, Charlottenburg and Berlin, where this violin was made.
About the violin
The violin was made in 1923 and is modelled after the instruments of Stradivari. It has an amazing one piece back which exhibits a gorgeous piece of wildly flamed maple. The front is two pieces of straight-grained spruce. Altogether a very pretty violin indeed: my favourite feature of its appearance is its stunning red varnish, full of very fine craquelure. The violin has a length of back of 353mm and bears its original label.
How does it sound?
This violin has a 'vintage' tone which, for me, conjures up memories of listening to old LPs of Oistrakh. Whilst strong and responsive across the whole fiddle, the G string is particularly full, right up to the very top of the string, perfect for Ravel's Tzigane!
Condition
The violin is in stunning original condition with only one saddle crack. This has been repaired to an excellent standard. The violin has a pre-emptive patch on the front under the sound post to help ward off sound post cracks: this is original to the instrument and has done its job as intended!