"Gaspard Duiffo Pruggard” violin, Vogtland, Germany

French historians worked hard to establish that Lyon-based sixteenth-century lute maker Gaspar Duiffopruggar, and not Cremonese luthiers spearheaded by Andrea Amati, was the true inventor of the violin. This claim was fueled by fake nineteenth century instruments originating from the Derasey and Vuillaume workshops, which in turn triggered commercial “copies” such as this delightful example, with its imaginative re-spelling of Duiffopruggar’s name, its marquetry inlay on the back showing a medieval town, and its bald patriarchal, neared man’s head stead of a scroll. Unlike many violins of this genre, the body is not oversized. The tone is broad, resonant and characterful. A delightful codicil to the label is the insertion of the French words “Imitation de”: an attempt by a German workshop to exploit the perceived superiority of their Mirecourt contemporaries – giving us a fake of a fake of a fake.