12 mins
PETTER HELLSTEDT
WRITTEN BY STEFAN LINDHOLM
A close look at the work of great and unusual makers
FULL SIZE PHOTOS BY ROBERTO FURNARI. DETAIL PHOTOS BY STEFAN LINDHOLM
FORM AND CONSTRUCTION
This viola is signed and dated 1759 in Hellstedt’s handwriting. Although made in a manageable size, this viola could be described as ‘a beast from the north’. The overall impression is that it was made hastily, but when we compare it to other instruments made much later, it seems possible that Hellstedt might have used some templates or drawings to guide his stylistic ideas. It is possible that Hellstedt made instruments of different grades, which could explain why this viola lacks purfling on both back and belly.
MATERIALS
The back is made from two pieces of plain maple, which visually reminds one of locally grown materials. The top is composed of two pieces of spruce that match each other well. It has grown evenly, with medium grain that widens towards the edges. Dendrochronological analysis by Roberto Furnari revealed significant matches between the front of the viola and wood grown at an altitude between 300m and 400m in northern and central Sweden. There is a match between a Hellstedt violin made in 1760 and Mittenwald instruments. In this case the youngest tree-ring found is dated 1712 so Hellstedt might also have used seasoned wood.
INTERIOR
The internal work is very distinctive. The spruce corner-blocks have been carved out to reduce the instrument’s weight. The top- and bottom-blocks are later additions. The linings, also of spruce, are barely 3mm in height and cut back with a single, very even chamfer – almost too even, and when we consider that there is a roughness to the work, it seems likely that it was made with a plane before the lining was bent and glued. Only the C-bouts have been let into the corner-blocks with a V-cut.
VARNISH
In the 18th century Stockholm violin makers used two shades of varnish: one light yellow in colour, the other opaque and almost black. It has been suggested that the dark varnish was originally red with an iron pigment, which in time would have turned the varnish this near-black shade. The varnish on this viola is coloured with a rather opaque red pigment. Could it in fact be the dark varnish we so often see, which for some reason has not oxidised and therefore kept the colour intended by its maker?