David Kerr Violin Shop, Inc
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George Craske England, 1860 
  
George Craske (1975 - 1888) is widely accepted to be history's most prolific violin maker. He is believed to have made more than 3,000 of his instruments, including many copies of Italian masters. He did this alone,  without assistants or apprentices.

Dealers have sold many of Craske's reproductions of Italian models as originals, highlighting the accuracy of Craske's work. The misidentification, either intentional or accidental, of Craske's violins was fed by the fact that he never put labels in his instruments.Most of Craske's instruments received labels after his death, when the W.E. Hill And Sons company bought a cache of Craske's violins, inserted labels, and put them up for sale.

Craske's father, who the Duke of Gafton had appointed the first band master of the second West Suffolk Militia, sent him to work with William Forster III in London after the young Craske showed an interest in violin making. 
Craske built many instruments for the Forster shop and later worked for Thomas Dodd until the era's craze for pedal harps gutted the violin market. 

While violin makers struggled to compete with the pedal harp, Craske moved to Bath, where he made instruments for two leading violin teachers and their students.  While there, Craske befriended an amateur player and friend of King George IV, who owned instruments by Stradivarius and Nicolo Amati. Those instruments became models for many of Craske's reproductions.

He settled in Bermingham for 20 years, where he once repaired Paganini's violin. Craske removed the top from Paganini's concert violin and secured a loose block in time for the violinist to play the same evening. Although Paganini initially was pleased with the repair, he later said the work had diminished the violin's sound. Paganini eventually sold the violin to Vuillume in Paris.

Craske then worked briefly in Manchester, where he sold much of the wood he had bought from Forster to fellow maker, Thomas Earle Hesketh. Craske later sequestered himself in a shop in Stockport, where he made violins and lived in isolation for 20 years. During this period, he spent most of his time reproducing instruments by Joseph Guarnerius.

This 15.5-inch viola has a Hill & Sons label. It is patterned after a Guarneri instrument and features the iconic Guarneri f-hole and scroll style. The two-piece back has a narrow figure, the purfling is thick and set into a shallow channel. The reddish-brown varnish is nicely antiqued. 

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