Violin from the 18th century by Anton Thir, Pressburg circa 1780

This violin was built in the late 18th century by Anton Thir and, as a very well preserved, beautiful sounding piece of musical history, represents the end of the Pressburg branch of the Thir family - which shaped the violin making style of the Viennese School like hardly any other.

The violin maker Anton Thir (Halblech/Steingaden 1729 - Pressburg 1788) is one of those personalities in the history of violin making whose historical rank is completely beyond doubt - and who nevertheless poses a number of unsolved mysteries to researchers to this day. Born in the Bavarian town of Halblech near Füssen, he seems to have been a relative of the great Johann Georg Thir and probably learned in the latter's influential Viennese workshop or worked with him for a time before moving to Pressburg around 1750. He worked there until his death in 1788 and was apparently inherited by his son Anton Thir Jr., who, however, moved to Vienna as early as 1790 and acquired citizenship. The violin offered here bears the original label of the elder Anton Thir and, with its orientation towards the model of Jakob Stainer - like many violins in the late 18th century - it still shows little impression of Antonio Stradivari's model, which had long since become authoritative for the other masters of the family. Its dark varnish represents a commitment to the nearby Viennese tradition. Preserved in good general condition with some old restoration and largely retouched areas, this Anton Thir violin reveals the traces of a long musical journey. These include the shafted scroll, which is quite small, and some restorations made long ago concerning an old woodworm infestation and minor damage in tonally non-critical areas - as well as a repair under the chinrest, which was professionally done in our specialist restoration workshop that involved opening of the violin. In the process, we satisfied ourselves that this violin is completely free of any sound post or bass bar cracks. Now ready to play immediately, this Anton Thir is an exceptionally affordable opportunity to discover an authentic and beautiful-sounding 18th century violin - whose mature, richly colored sound combines warmth, sweetness and brightness, and whose great volume is completed with appellative radiance in the upper ranges.