Germany
John Juzik

Wood, ebony, metal 
ca. 1940s-1950s
Length: 25.88 in; Width: 8.75 in; Depth: 4 in
Strings – Lutes – Violin Family

Inside label: John (Trademark) Juzek / Violinmaker formerly in Prague / MADE IN GERMANY   (SIGNATURE)

John Juzek (1892-1965) was born in Pisek, Czech Republic and in the early 1900’s he operated a violin making workshop in Schönbach, Czechoslovakia. After WWII Robert (son) and John Juzek moved the company just over the border into Germany. There are no date, serial number, or model information on the label, but the label does say ‘made in Germany’, and it is signed ‘John Juzek’ on the label. Many of these instruments were made under contract that John Juzik secured with the New York City Public Schools and the U.S. Teacher Colleges in the late 1940s and 1950s.  

The oil varnish on this viola is of a darker amber/brown on a golden/orange shading undercoat. The maple back plate is two-piece highly flamed maple and the top has a straight grain spruce consistent throughout the plate.  The top bridge is stamped ‘BAUSCH’.

This fiddle came from the Fred Spector collection of Chicago (Lincoln Park), Illinois.  Fred played violin with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 47 years.