Expert: Michael Avagliano - 6/5/2009

Question
QUESTION: My father has a 1939 viola made by Frederick Haenel. It is in very good condition and has a letter from Frederick Haenel himself that was signed and notorized stating that the viola was indeed made by him and was the first viola that he made on Fiddle Mountain in New Milford, CT. I know without seeing the viola it is hard to make an exact estimate of the viola, but I wanted to know if you could give me a rough estimate of what the viola might be worth? If you publish this estimate on your website, please do not use any of my personal information. Just my first name if needed.

Thanks,

Jennifer

ANSWER: Hello Jennifer,

Frederick Haenel was born in Saxony, around 1895. He came to the States sometime around 1917, and moved to Canada where he started a shop in Winnipeg, then Toronto, and then Buffalo, NY. Around 1940 (I would assume from your instrument that is was 1939) he moved to Connecticut, and worked there apparently for the rest of his life. He died in 1978. His instruments are not widely known, but were used by some members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, apparently because Leopold Stokowski liked the sound quality of his instruments.

He was known for making violas, and made more violas than violins, which is extremely unusual for a maker.

So that's the biographical information I have. There is absolutely no published price history for him, but that's not uncommon with American makers. So to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't have the first idea of a good value range for his work.

I would recommend that you contact either Christopher Reuning in Boston, or David Bromberg in Delaware about your viola. Chris is very knowledgable, and is in the process of compiling a reference book on American makers, so I think he would be interested in learning about your viola. David Bromberg is probably the best authority on American instruments and their values, and could help you with an appraisal if you like.

Chris can be contacted through his shop, Reuning and Son. Their website is www.reuning.com . David's website is www.davidbrombergfineviolins.com . If you like, I can contact them for you. If so, please let me know and I'll be happy to help.

I hope this is helpful, and good luck!

Sincerely,
Michael


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Michael,

I read your reply to my question and I appreciate the information that you gave me. I was finding it difficult to find out much information when searching on the internet.

You mentioned that you could contact Mr. Bromberg for me  and I would appreciate it if you could. My father also has a Jacque millant bow and a hill bow that he might be interested in hearing about.

Your welcome to share all of my information with him including my contact information.

Thank you for all your help!

Jennifer Visconti

Answer
Hello Jennifer,

I'll contact David and let him know about your father's instrument. AllExperts doesn't give me your contact info other than your name, so if you'd like to continue this off the site (which would probably be easiest), you can email me at suminstr@optonline.net , or call me at my shop at (732) 549-3382.

David will want to know what you'd like to do with the viola, meaning if the appraisal would be for insurance value, market value, or replacement value (which are three different numbers, actually). Generally, a replacement-value appraisal of an instrument is higher than the market value, because it takes into account the time and effort to find another example of the maker's work.

I have to say that this is more interesting than most of the questions I get on the AllExperts site (which mostly have to do with what we call "attic Strads"). It'll be enlightening to me to find out what David has to say about Mr. Haenel.

I'll let you know as soon as I hear from him!

Sincerely,
Michael Avagliano
Summit Fine Instruments