FRANTISEK ZIVEC

Frantisek Zivec was born in 1901 in what was then Bohemia, and learnt to play the violin at school in Litoměřice. He served an apprenticeship with a violin maker in Prague and began to make his own instruments, but this early period was disrupted by the compulsory army service. He moved to Prague in 1929, where we know he was married with a daughter. Although he carried on making violins, financial concerns forced him to find alternative employment.

In 1939, when German troops marched into Prague, Zivec went into hiding and joined the resistance movement. The family was reunited at the end of the war and moved to a town near the German border, close to the area occupied by American troops. At this point Zivec was working for his brother in the printing business (where the unusual blue labels of his violins were printed) and resumed instrument making.

According to Alan Coggins, in March 1948 ‘Zivec and his family waited until nightfall and made their way across the German border to the American occupied zone with whatever possessions they could carry (including two violins).’ It is very likely that one of those violins is the one displayed in this article.

After passing through numerous refugee camps, the family arrived in Melbourne, Australia, in 1949 and after different jobs Zivec resumed making violins. He averaged eight to ten instruments per year, mainly based on Stradivari, Guarneri and Bergonzi models. He made a copy of the 1731 ‘Gibson’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ for Ruggiero Ricci and became a respected violin maker in his adopted homeland. He died in 1963 aged 62.

MATERIALS

Zivec chose excellent wood for this 1947 violin: the spruce top has very fine and regular grain, while the one-piece maple back is deeply flamed. The ribs are made from maple with a similarlooking structure, while the scroll is of plain maple.

FORM AND CONSTRUCTION

This violin appears to show the influence of Guadagnini. Not only is the model similar, but the resemblance is also clear in Zivec’s use of upper and lower pins in the back, the high centre line of the scroll, the shape of the f-holes and the rather thick button of the neck root. Perhaps Zivec had had the chance to study a Guadagnini instrument up close.

PURFLING

For the purfling, Zivec used ebony for the ‘black’ and maple for the ‘white’.

He has followed the outline accurately; the bee-stings in the corners are a little short and not very elegant.

INTERIOR

The interior work is neatly done. It is interesting to note that Zivec made both the top- and bottom-blocks from spruce, while the linings and corner-blocks are made from willow – again just like Guadagnini.

VARNISH

This violin has a rather dark oil varnish which is not fully transparent. It may have become darker over time owing to oxidation. A violin from 1954 has the same type of varnish, but later instruments from Zivec’s Australian period, such as one from 1959 that is based on a Guarneri model, have a more orange, transparent look that seems more ‘modern’.

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