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Daniel Parker (luthier)

Daniel Parker (fl. ca. 1700-1723) was one of the most accomplished English luthiers. He was a mysterious figure and became famous for his masterful violins created in the footsteps of Antonio Stradivari.

Life
There is little known about this mysterious instrument maker who never ran a shop on his own. Much of his work was done for two contemporaries — Barak Norman and John Hare.

In 1703, Cremonese violinist de:Gasparo Visconti came to town playing on a long pattern Stradivari. Thereafter we see a significant shift in Parker's instruments, so obviously Viscontis concert tour had made a big impression on his contemporaries.

The majority of Parkers instruments are signed in ink on the interior of the belly near the bottom block. The ink has been susceptible to water damage, therefore legible inscriptions with reliable dates are rarely found. He did not have a retail premises of his own as he was a small-master, who made instruments for the wholesale trade without. The hidden inscriptions consist of only his name, ‘London Fecit’ and a date. Some of his instruments bear the labels of Barak Norman, John Hare and Edward Lewis, placing him into a close-knit group of luthiers close to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The estate of architect Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) included a “Cremona violin by Guernerius [Sic]” and “a ditto by Parker”.

Instruments

 * London 1716, auctioned in November 2015
 * Ex-Kreisler
 * Ex-Francais
 * The last known violin by Daniel Parker, London 1723, collaboration with Barak Norman

Influence
In the 20th century several famous violinsts used his instruments, among them Nathan Milstein, Ruggiero Ricci and Giorgio Ciompi. At the end of his 1910-11 tour of Britain, Fritz Kreisler acquired a Parker violin from W. E. Hill & Sons, the so-called “Parker Strad”, now known as ″Ex-Kreisler″. Thereafter, the Austrian born violinist performed extensively on this violin.

Auctions
The auction record for Daniel Parker is $ 248,382 in October 2022, for a viola.

Weblinks

 * Brompton's Auctioneers
 * Benjamin Hebbert Violins Limited
 * Tarisio Fine instruments & bows
 * Tim Wright Fine Violins Scotland


 * 1) Djaffar Shalchi
 * 2) Human Act
 * 3) Insel im Attersee