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Old 01-26-2007, 09:19 PM
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Lightbulb Recap on the Hart/Fendt mystery

On 10/13/06 I started a Thread over on Talkbass on one of my Basses concerning an empty hole in the upper back where some sort of emblem was once housed. Since the Thread started, the Bass once strongly believed to be a Fendt was now being considered a Bass by John Hart of London c.1830. Since I am no longer on TB I would like to bring over some of what I personally authored over there so we can discuss it here if so desired by anyone. The original question was what to do with that empty space seen here;



I will try to keep it short but it was a 5 page thread before.
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(TB, 10/13/06) I am taking a casual poll and I welcome all suggestions regardless of your experience with old Basses or restorations.

I have a beautiful old English Bass currently in restoration attributed to Bernhard Fendt Sr. (by Oscar Zimmerman) or maybe Bernhard Simon Fendt II (by Thomas Martin but only from description of a Maggini modeled Fendt and has not seen this Bass as far as I know).

The upper Back has a circular hole that does not go thru and is Purfled around it with a half diamond seen here .

At first we thought this may be a scar from an old Neck Repair but when the Back came off for restoration there was no hole on the inside. With the Half Diamond Purfling around the empty 27mm opening we can only imagine there was some sort of Jewel, Coat of Arms or Insignia inlaid there originally as all the Purfling matches up.

My question is what should I do with this missing inlay opening?

I have several thoughts as did Arnold from a plain matching wood disc, ebony disk, an inlay of B.F. the maker, K.S.B. for me owning it, my "S" logo in Abalone in an ebony disc.. Etc..

So, if this were yours and you knew the history of this Bass, the maker and/or London at it's time of making, what would you do with that missing gap?

A brief history of Bernard Fendt Sr. for those of you with questions about him; Born on 9th May 1756 in the Bavarian town of Füssen (Innsbruck, Tyrol) and his mother Anna was related to the Klotz family. At age 7 he was sent to Paris to work with his uncle François Fent (French for Fendt, who was well established in Paris at that time as a great maker) and learn violin making. Vincent Panormo was also in Paris during Fendts stay. In 1798, 2 years after his uncles death, he moved to London and worked for Thomas Dodd. Panormo left Paris and went to Dublin (Thomas Perry shop) and later to London and worked for John Betts. After 11 years in 1809, Fendt left Dodd and went to work for John Betts as the head of the shop. Fendt's first son Bernhard Simon (b.1801, d.1852) was also brought into the Betts shop to work and learn from his father. They both worked in the shop until 1823 and then Fendt joined Bett’s nephew Vernon in a new shop. Fendt Sr. died in London on 15th November 1832. Around the time of his fathers death, Bernhard Simon Jr. went into partnership with Charles Joseph Farn, (an ex-employee of Vernon’s). Only one known violin bears his name as Fendt Sr. spent most of his life working for others.

Now, after reading a little about his life, it is evident that if this is his Bass it may have been ordered by someone of wealth as the wood on the back is about the best you will find especially for that period in London. I assume that whomever this was made for, an inlay was placed within that Purfled Diamond under the Neck Button. I don't want to leave an empty hole or over decorate it unjustly but rather add to the already existing charm of the Bass and show respect where it is due.

Your suggestions please??
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(10/14/06) Leave it alone? There is an open hole in the back under the neck. It is not deep but it is open where something fell out. Also, I doubt it was added as the half Diamond of purfling around it looks totally original as is to surround or protect the inlay.

Historical? We will never know what was in there. Finding the 'J.Hart' stamps in the back was historical in itself but discovering that the hole was NOT from a neck repair puts me back in the 'twilight zone' once again. From what I have read, seen and learned from others, this Bass is 99% a Fendt and more chance it is Fendt Sr. than Jr. Both father and son were B.S. Fendts but for the father they usually leave out the middle name. See here as this is maybe his only known label;



Also read here for more on Fendt Sr.

If I do my 'S' logo in part in the ebony disc, I might also put a smaller 'B' and 'F' on either side of it in a similar lettering to his Label. That Disc would fill the existing hold and can be remove if one wanted to do so.

This Excerpt from 'The British Violin Making Association', Sept, 2000.
The most influential craftsmen to work for Betts were
Bernhard Simon Fendt and Vincenzo Panormo. Fendt was born in
the south German town of Fussen but moved to Paris in his youth
and there learnt violin making from his uncle, Francois. Panormo
worked in Rome and Naples before joining Fendt in Paris, but left
at the outbreak of the French Revolution to work in Dublin.
However both men were soon to arrive in England and became
hugely influential in the London trade.

Believe me, I have the highest respect for this maker and all makers for that matter. Doing an inlay would highlight the 'S' which could point to either me the owner or Arnold 'S'chnitzer the restorer and both father and son whos middle names were 'S'imon.
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Fendt and Panormo? Did Panormo actually join Fendt or just worked in Paris around the same time? This is not clear to me but looks as if his time in Paris was with Fendt and after only 2 years with Dodd, he also worked for Betts in 1800 before leaving Dodd completely 9 years later in 1809 when he began running the Betts shop.

This puts interesting information together and a possibility how Panormo may have influenced Fendt Sr. directly in his Bass and Violin making to rise to the level he attained.
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