(10/15/06) 'History this side of the Pond'
Jacques Gagnon brought this Bass over from Europe as he did with many other Basses and sold it Michael Leiter, Principal of the Montreal Symphony who then played it as-is off the boat without restoration. Then he sold it to either Bob or Oscar Zimmerman. I have to see if I can figure that out. Bob did play it as Principal but Oscar may have as well before him. It was Oscar that mentioned it was a Fendt Sr. Bass and not BSF II. It was then sold to another member and pupil of Oscar named William Eckfeld (co-author of 'My First Simandl'). Eckfeld then went on to play with the Dallas Symphony and then retired from full time Orchestra playing.
This Bass has been out of commission for about 2 decades. It was in use for only about 10 years between the 3 owners. Now it needs to be fixed finally as the last restoration seems to be from
1944 which is dated inside the Bass. The open circle on the Back is just a finishing touch that is needed. The 'Rose' type of carving on a disc sounds interesting.
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English decorations, from 10/15/06.
My Gilkes from 1814 has an old Tail Piece with an
Inlay and they both might be original. It has Pearl and Silver with a Star in the middle of a circle.
It also has this simple
Diamond design under the Button. The Purfling though is actually 7 layers (4 black and 3 white lines). Not really simple when you look with a magnifier glass.
What's with these 'Diamonds' in the Backs here. The Fendt with a large Purfled half Diamond and the Gilkes with a smaller full Diamond. Are we on to something here? Is this yet another mystery that should be explored? The spooky part if these 'Diamonds' have any relation to each other is that Gilkes' pupil J.Hart's name is stamped inside the Fendt as well..
The inlay that was in there could have easily been something personal to the owner when it was made. Possibly even a family 'coat of arms'. The Back of this Bass is made from about the best wood I have ever seen on a Bass and according to Arnold Schnitzer, the hardest he recalls working on. When he worked on my Morelli he commented on how hard the wood was in the Back. Then came my Prescott in New England Curly (Tiger) Rock Maple. Next it was my Gilkes as he claimed the hardest yet until he got inside the Fendt to clean up the Back and said THIS is the hardest Back to date.
All those who have seen the Back have been shocked at its condition with only a slight fracture up at the treble side bend. The rest is crack-free! My Dodd was close in condition but not as nice. My Mystery Bass is also in great condition with just a few cracks and the Prescott had just a couple in its Flat Back as well. This Fendt was built with some graduation as it's thicker across the Lower Bout than the Upper Bout in some sort of proportion of width-to-thickness ratio. Too bad Fendt isn't here to see this Back still in near perfect condition after about 200 years.
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(10/16/06)
Photo shopped sample..
This was the work of my Son Mike putting the bSf in the Button area, totally photo shopped;
Using the B and F from this label;
P.S. Also, I took a pixel from the darker area of varnish and colored the letters as I might do when I fill in the engraving. With white letters, you can see the 'B' and 'F' easier but I want to make the whole thing on the subtle side. Maybe the 'S' should be in Black or unfilled and just fill in the 'B' and 'F' with the dark red varnish color..?
NOTE: If you 'right click' the Pic you can blow it up by; select 'save image as', then left click 'save', then left click 'open', the left click the '+' to blow it up and you can see it much much better.
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(10/29/06)
Possible conclusion...
The Bass believed to be a Fendt may very well be a Bass made by John Thomas Hart, London c.1830. Since the Bass is stamped "J.HART" inside the Back and Rosengard believes this very well may be a 'lost' Hart instrument I have updated my web page attributing it to Hart with great confidence. A lot has gone into this thought and we are still digging for more information on Hart here and in London but for now and maybe forever, this Bass is the work of John Hart.
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(Today, 1/26/07) As you can see, I've had quite a run-a-round with this Bass as far as the origin goes. During this saga, someone sent pics from my website to Tom Martin in London who had only previously heard about the Bass. He again said it was from the shop of Bernhard Simon Fendt as he did the first time several months before.
John Hart was a maker, restorer and later a Dealer. Not just a Dealer but the biggest Dealer in Italian Violins London had ever seen. Hart was also a pupil of Samuel Gilkes who was trained by Charles Harris Sr. and William Forster III as well. Of all the confirmed B.S. Fendt Basses I have seen as well as a few unconfirmed ones, not a single Bass looked anything like this. The only feature that is Fendt-like at all is the Double Purfling and even this is
not done in the same manner as Fendt. Fendt by the way was
not the only British maker to use Double Purfling so calling it a Fendt or Fendt Shop Bass is a lazy call at best.
Regardless of who made this beautiful Bass, it was made with great thought and style. It is of Italian modeling but not without English flair. It's a humble looking Bass with fantastic wood as seen on the inside by the Hart stamps. So if it'd be Fendt, Hart or another Londoner, the maker of this Bass was top class all the way. William Gilkes, son of Samuel who also learned along side John Hart was known to have made Basses with Double Purfling as well. A William Gilkes Bass I have seen with regular purfling has a similar shape and look to this Bass of mine.
Now, what do I do with that darn hole in the Back, huh?
