Violin

This "Stradivari model" violin was built by the Danish-born violin maker Lars Jorgen Rudolf Olsen in his shop on Third Avenue and 42nd Street in New York City. Olsen began learning the trade of violin making in 1904 with Emil Hjorth & Sønner in his native Denmark. AFter five years, he moved to Dresden where he studied with the violin maker Otto Möckel, moving to the Berlin branch of that same firm in 1912. After becoming certified as a master maker, he moved to Amsterdam for the summer of 1913 where he worked in the shop of Karel van der Meer while studying bow making with Max Möller. That fall he immigrated to New York City, where he established his own mid-town shop in 1914. He worked in the same location until 1957 when he relocated to Teaneck, New Jersey. Although trained as a master violin maker, Olsen produced few instruments, instead focusing on the repair of instruments. This is a fine example of his work.