Commercially made violins often carry labels of non-existent makers.  They were used by distributors for the purpose of brand recognition.  Names such as;  Carlo  Robelli, Andreas Morelli, Carlo Micelli, John Juzek, A. Schroetter, Loveri, Curatoli, Eduardo Pietro Grulli,  and others were  used in  violins  dating back to the 1920's.  These names were used to denote various violin family products made in Germany.  Italian sounding names were given to the highest grade commercial violins so that potential buyers might be lead into believing that they were actually made in Italy.  Some of these even state that they were "made in Italy." The fact is that at a time when it was possible to state this mis-information, many distributors mis-represented their products. 

Eduardo Pietro Grulli, is a great example of this misrepresentation.  These were very fine quality commercially produced violins from either Markneukirchen or Dresden which are marketed as originating in Italy.  Where in Italy?, nobody knows.  What is even more confusing to a buyer who does some research is the fact that there was an early 20th century maker by the name of Pietro Grulli, not Eduardo Pietro Grulli.  Pietro Grulli was a real maker, Eduardo Pietro Grulli was a brand name. 

The names Carlo Robelli  and Andreas Morelli were high end commercially manufactured violins from the Karl Hermannn shop in Germany.  They were quite ubiquitous in the 1930's and were very well made with the best materials.   Today the  name Carlo Robelli is still marketed by a big box distributor, however the quality is far different from the original Robelli instruments.   Today they are a lower end instrument manufactured in China or Reghin Romania.  The name lives on.

Names such as A.Schroetter and John Juzek are still marketed by distributors but are not the same as those which were marketed 30 or 40 years ago.  At that time, those venerable names which appeared in student grade instruments were made in West Germany or in Schoenbach (Czechoslovakia)  They were imported in very large quantities when the American dollar was at its peak in value.  As the Chinese market began to grow in capability and the dollar began to slide downward in value,  importers switched their supply sources to Chinese manufacturers and those instruments began to be marketed with those venerable labels. 

The buyer needs to educate himself or herself as to the origin of these products to determine as to whether the label inside the instrument is a name which has outlived its usefulness or whether it is an older instrument where the label was an indication of its original high quality.

Ira Kraemer
ebay id: violins