A Good German Viola By Emil Burkhardt, 1928. 410mm or 16 1/8”

Emil Burkhardt (1871-1955) apprenticed and worked for Meisel in Klingenthal and Glasel in Markneukirchen before entering the employ of Hammig in Dresden in 1890. After which, he worked for Hermann Beyer, and established independently in 1901. He became the court maker to the Grand Duke of Saschen-Weimar in 1909. Often branded to the back below the button, Burkhardt demonstrates consistently fine work on classical models.

This highly characteristic example of Burkhardt’s work is patterned after Guadagnini and was crafted in 1928, the peak of his craft. It features his brandstamp below the button of the one-piece back of irregular flame and 410mm in length. Materials of matching aesthetic for the ribs and scroll, with tight, even-grained spruce for the top. The scroll, in the Dvorak style, with a large round eye at the termination of the volutes in another stylistic nod to Guadagnini. The combination of the wider model and 16 1/8” back length delivers a complex voice that is as easy to modulate as the instrument is to navigate.