Violin maker Kitty Smith – a creative art

This photograph from the 1940s shows violin maker Kitty Smith (1912-2005) hand carving the neck of violin. Kitty said:

Violin construction is a creative art – from the selection of fine materials to the family formulae for varnishes. Age alone cannot make a concert violin – the tone must be inbuilt with countless hours of work and a very strong love for the art.

The outstanding tonal merits and fine workmanship of Kitty’s instruments were recognised in 1949 when one of her violins gained a Diploma of Honour at the International Exhibition of violins held at the Hague.

This 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, Luthier, 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.