On Mon, 31 Oct 1994, Eric Siegel wrote:
 
> Most people think that all existing Strads are accounted for. If you want
> a definitive answer, you need to invest some time and money in taking the
> thing to a major city where there are experienced repair/appraiser shops.
> If you need references, I can help you find them.
 
There's a Catch 22 in this -- people who are genuinely able and qualified
to authenticate a Strad are an exceedingly rare breed. Few if any of them
will sell their expertise to walk in trade and if they do, you can expect
it to cost a fortune.
 
> There are lots of copies around, of varying quality, and some use fake
> ID's within the fiddle itself. I would say that the likelihood of it being
> a real strad approaches zero, but, if you want to find out for sure, you
> gotta spend the time and money to go where the expertise is.
 
It is very common practice for factory made violins of "Stradivarius
model" to bear replica labels. The intent of this has varied through the
years from outright criminal to polite emulation. I never saw a fiddle
expert look at a label as part of the authentication process other than to
corroborate an otherwise firmly based conclusion about the origin of the
instrument.
 
Cary <[log in to unmask]>