Photo: Leif Andersson
This violin is built by someone from the Mohte-family in 1753. The owner found this webside and was then able to identify the instrument as a double-decker due to the 8 remnants of pins for sympathetic strings next to the end pin. The neck or pegbox has later been changed and the instrument was converted to a standard violin. The fingerboard might be a remain from the original and is very similar to the fingerboard from Angeredsfiolen which indicates that the builder is Johan Georg Mohte.
There are some uncertainties regarding the label which I suppose is found in the body. In 1753, both Johan Georg Mohte and his som Jöran, or possibly Johan Jörgen, (1724-1773) was active. A family chronicle tells that Johan Georgs wife died at the latest 1752 and Johan Georg was over 70 years and lived in his son-in-law and apprentice Jacob Hellman. However there is a preserved viol by Johan Georg from 1751 and no preserved instruments by his son.
Johan Georg Mohte, 1690/1695-1765, was the first in a family of luthiers in Ängelholm, Skåne. He was born in Dresden in Saxony in 1690 and probably joined the Swedish army while Karl XII was stationed there after the treaty of Altranstädt in 1706. In 1707 the army marched out from Saxony to start Karl XII:s Russian campaign which ended with the defeat in Poltava 1709 after which the king fled to the Ottoman Empire (Moldova) and the rest of the army surrendered in Perevolotjna and all the soldiers ended up in imprisonment in Siberia. Mothe and other prisoners were released after the treaty of Nystad in 1721 and Mothe joined Arwit Rönnegren and a few other soldiers (Johan Engelberg and Johan Kringelberg) to Scania in May 1722. Mothe applied for citizenship and claimed he had learned to be a luthier during the years in Siberia and asked to be able to establish a workshop in Ängelholm. It is not known who taught violin making to Mothe but it has been assumed it is someone connected to Joachim Tielke in Hamburg due to the similarities in style.
Johan Georgs son Johan Jörgen was granted priviledges for luthier work in 1748 and he had a son called Önnert who practised violin building in the 19th century. Johan Georgs son in law, Jacob Hellman was also a luthier in Ängelholm and Carl Johan Broberg (Gothenburg) and Hans Severin Nyborg (Örkelljunga) were also apprentices at Mothes workshop. Two gambas, a violin from 1745 and at least two but probably four Double-deckers made by Johan Georg Mohte have been preserved but there are no known instruments by his son or grandson.
Photo: Leif Andersson
Photo: Leif Andersson
Photo: Leif Andersson
Photo: Leif Andersson
Photo: Leif Andersson
Photo: Leif Andersson
Photo: Leif Andersson
Photo: Leif Andersson
Name | Mohte 2 |
Type | Double-decker |
Luthier | Johan Georg Mothe |
Year | 1753 |
Origin | Ängelholm, Skåne |
Found in | Skåne |
Playing strings | 4 |
Sympathetic strings | 8 |
Other instruments built by Johan Georg Mothe | MohteEdvinKulturencellonKulturengambanAngeredsfiolen |
Other instruments with the same number of sympathetic strings | TuppenMunkenHjelmenKarlhamnsfiolenElvisBulanMohteGöteborgsfiolenEdvinSödlingNorbergsfiolenHammerJamtlifiolenAntikrundanfiolenAngeredsfiolen |
Other instruments with edge intarsia | MohteEdvinArwitgamban M285MeyergambanKulturencellonKulturengambanAngeredsfiolen |
Other instruments with a scroll | NorbergsfiolenDubbeldäckad hardingSpettsToftafiolenBungefiolenHunshultSpele-Jocke |