Mittenwalder = Ludwig Neuner?
Ok, follow me here on this. I looked thru the ranks of the known 19th century makers of Mittenwald to identify the possible maker/shop of my Bass. Looking at dates alone, the mostly likely person was Ludwig Neuner or his firm that he took over in 1867, Neuner-Hornsteiner. These were my thoughts about a year ago.
There is little doubt that this is a Mittenwald production but the design is quite different from the average domestic product from this area.
I recently had my Georges Mougenot Bass restored and while comparing the FFs of both Basses side by side I noticed they were almost exactly the same. The Mittenwald being slightly longer but the all the curves as well as the eyes and tabs looked to be from the same pattern. Mougenot having worked with N.F. Vuillaume had access to the Vuillaume patterns as N.F. worked with and made Basses for his brother J.B. Vuillaume before moving to Brussels. This explains the Vuillaume FFs on the Mougenot. Ludwig Neuner, although trained by his father originally, had gone to Paris and worked for 6-7 years with Vuillaume. He also traveled to London briefly as well. This Bass has the Vuillaume FFs and an English Gamba style outline and Back bend. It is for these reasons that I make this attribution, as Ludwig Neuner is the only German of that period that worked and traveled to both France and England. The Bass is totally a Mittenwald production but shows also the Vuillaume FFs with the English Gamba pattern which is a modified German model so it's a full circle. The English copied the Germans and then the Germans copied the English with some French added which was taken from the Italians to begin with!
Reading more on Ludwig Neuner is also mention of having worked briefly in Vienna with the celebrated maker Gabriel Lembock. Ludwig Streicher played a Bass by Lembock. Vieneese Basses are well known for their friendly sloped shoulders over modest width bouts, unlike the slender Pear shaped Basses made in France and Germany of the late 19th century but rather fairly full dimensioned Basses with politely sloped shoulders.
So, putting the period of the Bass at about 1860 or so, Mittenwald in make, English style Back bend and lower Bout width, Vienna style upper Bout slope and Vuillaume pattern Strad model FFs, who is the most likely suspect? ... Ludwig Neuner!
"Attributed to" is an opinion rather than a proven fact, but I did my research and these are the results.
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