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Photo: Bengt Gabrielsson
Fiddle built 1846 by Petter Jönsson, Färmanstorp close to Nättraby in Blekinge. This instrument is now kept at Karlshams Museum and I therefore call it "Karlshamnsfiolen" (the Karlshamn fiddle). The violin was bought by the museum from an unknown seller in 1932 and the price was 5 swedish crowns. The pegs for the playing strings are intact but those for the sympathetic strings are missing. The body has some damages, especially the ribs, and the tailpiece, bridge and strings are missing and I suppose that long time has passed since the instrument was playable. The fingerboard has tulip shaped intarsia, probably made of tusk, which is similar to "The Rooster". "The Karlshamn fiddle" is quite similar to "The Rooster" and it is probable that Petter Jönsson has been inspired by an instrument by Hans Severin Nyberg. It is also assumable that the tailpiece has had similar decorations. This instrument is built in 1846 which is noticeable since most other double-deckers are built during the 18:th century. There are no facts about the builder except where he lived and it is not possible to say whether he was a complete amateur or if he built instruments to sell them. It is however probable that Petter Jönsson have no formal education since the quality of the instrument is not excellent. It might be possible to find some facts about Petter Jönsson in swedish church and census records but it is a quite time consuming activity to search in such and I haven't had time to do so yet.
Petter Jönsson
Petter Jönsson signed his double-decker in Färmantorp outside Nättraby in Blekinge. I have tried to find him in church records and he might be identical to a Peter Johnsson born in 1803. Remember that spelling was more flexible in old days and if he was born in 1843 he would have been 43 years old when he built the preserved violin. Unfortunately I have not found any other notes about his career. The Peter Johnsson I found had five kids in the 1840s and he might have had the need to work extra as luthier to support his family. If he was a full time luthier I suppose he would have been present in other sources and the quality of his work would probably been higher.
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Bengt Gabrielsson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
Photo: Jon Magnusson
| Name | Karlhamnsfiolen |
| Type | Double-decker |
| Luthier | Petter Jönsson |
| Year | 1846 |
| Origin | Nättraby, Blekinge |
| Found in | Karlshamns museum, Karlshamn, Blekinge |
| Playing strings | 4 |
| Sympathetic strings | 8 |
| Total length | 602 mm |
| Scale length | 300 mm |
| Length of corpus | 353 mm |
| Height | 64 mm |
| Rib height | 28 mm |
| Other instruments with the same number of sympathetic strings | TuppenMunkenHjelmenElvisBulanMohteGöteborgsfiolenEdvinSödlingNorbergsfiolenHammerMohte 2JamtlifiolenAntikrundanfiolenAngeredsfiolen |
| Other instruments with tulip intarsia | TuppenJamtlifiolenSpele-JockeDubbeltulpanenTrippeltulpanenKulturengamban |
| Other instruments with a lion head | TuppenElvisBulanGöteborgsfiolenEdvinSödlingTielkegamban M2475JamtlifiolenBostongambanKulturenfiolenArwitgamban M285DubbeltulpanenTrippeltulpanenKulturencellonKulturengambanAntikrundanfiolenAngeredsfiolen |