Lot number 2851 - Auction 155
VIOLINE BEZ. 'ANTON RIEF'

VIOLIN LABELLED 'ANTON RIEF' Vils, Tyrol, circa 1800. One-piece spruce top and maple back, dark brown varnish. Full-size (4/4) violin, length 58.9 cm, body length 35.4 cm. With labels "Anton Rief in Vils in Tyroll", "Robert Barth, Stuttgart, Königl. Hof-Instrumentenmacher" and "rep. 1894". Finely crafted master violin from a Tyrolean workshop, made around 1800 and bearing the label "Anton Rief". Characteristic features include the harmoniously proportioned body, carefully carved scroll and warm-toned varnish, vividly documenting the regional violin-making tradition of the Alpine area at the turn of the 18th to the 19th century. Minimally rubbed and bumped, rest. Provenance: Estate from a German violin-making workshop; acquired from the auction house Bongartz.