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Published with permit from the Music Archive of Småland
Edvin Karlson (1896-1990) was a folk musician from Ramsås in Bergs socken in Småland who owned a fiddle with 8 sympathetic strings. Edvin studied at Grimslövs folkhögskola in his youth and worked at an office in Växjö for a few years. In the 1940s his parents was not able to run their farm and Edvin had to take over even though he might never have desired to be a farmer. Edvin was recorded by Magnus Gustafsson in the seventies and Edvin was also visited by other folk musicians. Olle Paulsson was there at least once and Magnus visited him twice. The first time, the sympathetic strings were in place even though Edvin didn't tune them so carefully and it is hard to draw any conclusions about how the double-deckers have been used out of Edvins playing style. At Magnus second visit, the understrings was even removed and Evin was using the instrument as a standard violin. He is however supposed to have said that he used the sympathetic strings a lot in his youth. It is not known where he got the fiddle from, if he bought it or got it from a relative. Unfortunately this violin has been lost since Edvin died in 1990.
The decorations on the bottom near zäpfchen (the part of the bottom closest to the scroll) are very similar to those on
Johan Georg Mohte
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.
Published with permit from the Music Archive of Småland
Published with permit from the Music Archive of Småland
Published with permit from the Music Archive of Småland
Photo: Olle Paulsson
Photo: Olle Paulsson
Photo: Olle Paulsson
Photo: Olle Paulsson
Photo: Olle Paulsson
Photo: Olle Paulsson
| Name | Edvin |
| Type | Double-decker |
| Luthier | Johan Georg Mothe |
| Year | |
| Origin | Ängelholm, Skåne |
| Found in | Berg, Småland |
| Playing strings | 4 |
| Sympathetic strings | 8 |
| Other instruments built by Johan Georg Mothe | MohteMohte 2KulturencellonKulturengambanAngeredsfiolen |
| Other instruments with the same number of sympathetic strings | TuppenMunkenHjelmenKarlhamnsfiolenElvisBulanMohteGöteborgsfiolenSödlingNorbergsfiolenHammerMohte 2JamtlifiolenAntikrundanfiolenAngeredsfiolen |
| Other instrument with rose painting | TuppenMohteGöteborgsfiolenAngeredsfiolen |
| Other instruments with edge intarsia | MohteMohte 2Arwitgamban M285MeyergambanKulturencellonKulturengambanAngeredsfiolen |
| Other instruments with a lion head | TuppenKarlhamnsfiolenElvisBulanGöteborgsfiolenSödlingTielkegamban M2475JamtlifiolenBostongambanKulturenfiolenArwitgamban M285DubbeltulpanenTrippeltulpanenKulturencellonKulturengambanAntikrundanfiolenAngeredsfiolen |