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Chas P. Coolidge
Orange Mass November 1894 No. 5
While not allot is known about this New England violinmaker, we do have two of
his violins in our collection. This one dated 1894 is number 5 and the
other is dated 1898 and is number 22. This would place him as being a
somewhat prolific maker as that is about 13 instruments a year during a 4 year
timeframe. While showing clear evidence of being a self taught maker,
Coolidge certainly had good tool hand skills.
This violin was not in bad shape, a sound post crack gave us some concern but
when we took it apart the crack did not go all the way through (and did not
reveal itself when we carved it down to 1 +/- mm in thickness). A sound
post patch (inlay) will add enough strength to the area so that it should never
give cause for concern again. We elected to do a complete rebuild as some
ribs needed attention. Additionally it had a rather unique neck set that
left little to be desired, so a scroll graft was in order as well.
All in all this is a finely made violin that looks as good as the day it was
made. Perfect for a collector of early New England instruments or a
professional musician looking for something different.
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