Scandinavian Violin: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This violin was made by an unknown Scandinavian maker around 1869. There is a handwritten pencil inscription on the back that reads: “Joh. Traxler(t). 1869.” Having never been opened since it was built, this violin provides an opportunity to study one maker’s intentions and techniques. The violin is made of a two-piece table of spruce cut on the quarter, a back of slab maple in one piece with mild, horizontal figure, ribs of similar maple, plain beech wood neck, pegbox and scroll, and a stained pear wood fingerboard.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1845-1855
• Date made: 1869
• Object Name: violin
• Measurements: overall: 24 in x 7 7/8 in x 3 1/4 in; 60.96 cm x 20.0025 cm x 8.255 cm
• ID Number: 1989.0654.01
• accession number: 1989.0654
• catalog number: 1989.0654.01
• Credit Line: Gift of Jean E. and Michael D. Becker
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.