About L. Dalton Potter Expertise I have been involved in the violin trade for over 28 years. I am currently the President of The Potter Violin Company in Bethesda, MD. I can offer clients initial advice on the value, authenticity and quality of almost all bowed string instruments (violins, violas, cellos & basses) using good quality digital photos. I would decline to give final evaluations without examining instruments in person.
Experience Experience in Music Business: Charlie Byrd's Music House; 1977 - 1980
Senior violin technician: Violin House of Weaver; 1980 - 1996.
President: The Potter Violin Company; 1996 - Present
Organizations: Founding member;String Industry Council, Violin Society of America, American String Teachers Association, Guild of American Luthiers,
Suzuki Association of America, Publications; Journal of the American String Teacher's Association, American Suzuki Journal Education/Credentials;Berklee College of Music 1974 - 1977
Awards and Honors: Chester J. Patranek Award for Excellence in the Music Industry
Traugott Rohner Leadership in the Music Industry Award
(26 years of service - too many to list)
Expert: L. Dalton Potter Date: 4/5/2008 Subject: violin maker info
Question I inherited a violin from my grandfather that I believe came over with my ancestors when they immigrated here from Europe. Can you tell me anything about the maker? It is handwritten inside the violin Roman Skurka - 1884- Polska, and also maybe the town(I don't have the violin with me right now to check this, starts with the letter "G", I think it was Gel... I haven't been able to find anything. Thanks for any info. that you may be able to pass along. Mike
Answer Hi Mike, I haven't heard of that particular maker, but I have an archive of books and auction listings going back a number of decades in my shop so it may take until the middle of next week to get you an answer. I take as a challenge so I'm looking forward to trying to find him..
Dalton
Hi Michael,
I did some digging and still haven't come up with much on your violin-making relative other than some genealogy tidbits. For instance, there are references relating to Jewish families (surname "Skurka") that converted over to Roman Catholicism. The word "Skurka" appears to be a Byelorussian word for skin(?!) everything revolves around Poland (Polska) and of course, that country suffered horrible losses in WWII with whole towns being annihilated and whole populations of other towns supplanting them by forced evacuations. It makes sense that a minor figure like a violin maker might not show up in the record books (eg:Wm. Henley Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers) with all the chaos of the last century in that area. Skurka still appears to have been a common name in the area of Lodz until the recent past. Funny thing is, that Jews as an ethnic group in pre-war Europe were involved in higher intellectual pursuits and that included music and instrument-making. Unfortunately, the ugly history of anti-semitism is still not over and so getting to people in Europe to admit to Jewish family ties even in the year 2008 is very hard. I know this doesn't do much for solving the violin riddle but if you ever get to go to Poland, and aren't afraid to dig around you may find some more information in Lodz (or Warsaw). I would love to hear about it if you find anything more.
All the Best!
Dalton Potter
