Violin maker Kitty Smith – hand carving

This image shows violin maker Kitty Smith(1912-2005) carving the edge of a violin. Kitty made all her instruments by hand. She stated:

The construction of a violin is a complex task and involves a great deal of precision. I work in the cremonese style and use only hand tools. The instruments I have made have been based on Stradivarius, Guaneri and my own personal models. I don’t copy other makers. I have made 4 cellos, 5 violas and more than 30 violins, all based on early Italian methods of construction.

This photograph dates from the 1940s. It is one of a series of photographic prints given to the Museum when we purchased a string quartet (two violins, a viola and a cello) made by Kitty Smith.

Post by Lynne McNairn

Photographer unknown
No known copyright restrictions

Tags: Australian makers, Kit Smith, Kitty Smith, musical instruments, Violin making, violin workshop, Violins, women

The Powerhouse Museum's Photo of the Day blog features a new image each day, chosen from the Powerhouse Photo Library.

The majority of these images have been taken by Museum photographers for a variety of purposes such as for exhibitions, of objects in our collection, events, behind-the-scenes and location shots. We also feature many images taken by our Flickr community and from our visitors. We hope you enjoy the photographs and stories.

The licensing of each image varies however we are trying to release as many as possible under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.1 license.