Fiddle_Cellar is proud to offer this piece of OREGON musical history.

In the 1850‘s William R. McCord was an Oregon pioneer, military officer and later in life

a noted violin maker.  His violins were exhibited at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exhibition, where one (I think mine) was awarded a Gold Medal for workmanship.  McCord is well documented in Wenberg’s book on “American Violin Makers”.

I have researched him and his violins with the Oregon Historical society and have shown the many research documents I acquired from that research in one of the photos.  When I went to the Oregon Historical society to do this research and see the McCord violin they already have on display; I took mine to show them.  They were so impressed with the abundance of ornamentation on mine compared to theirs that they too thought mine must have been the one that won the award at the Lewis and Clark exhibition.  They also “begged” me to put them in my will to donate this instrument to their collection upon my death.

Now for the details of the violin:

Made in 1903.  Has no label from the maker, but does have a repair label from John Nordstrom dated 1913 in San Francisco, CA.  There are NO CRACKS on this violin and

it is not at all obvious what that repair was.  The woods are absolutely GORGEOUS with

bold, fine flamed NW maple, inlaid floral pattern with natural and colored Oregon myrtle wood on the back.  The workmanship is exquisite and the condition is NEAR MINT.  Measurements are: LOB 14”, LB 8.25”, UB 6.75”, scale (nut to bridge) 320mm.

The violin is very responsive, but needs to be played to bring out its full potential.  It has spent a lot of its life “on display” by various owners.  I would rate its tone as almost soloist volume with a leaning toward bright vs. dark tone.

You can purchase this piece of Oregon history for your collection, OR if you are a benefactor of the Oregon Historical Society and want to do them a BIG favor - acquire this and donate it  to them in your families name!

A  large violin shop in my area has worked on this violin for me, and has verbally verified the authenticity of this violin.  I am sure they would be willing to write a certificate of authenticity for you for a small fee. His shop has worked on a local cello made by McCord with an almost identical inlay to mine.  I personally visited the family that owns that cello, and we compared instruments. To both our surprise, the similarity of inlays  caused us to surmise that our instruments were part of a quartet that McCord made to be  displayed at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exhibition.

Thanks for looking at my auction.