Donald Urquhart

URQUHART, Donald Born 1859 Balblair, Invergordon, Scotland UK. Self taught amateur maker active from 1874. About 20 violins completed. Large Stradivari model with his own amber varnish in various shades. Broad edges. Head concentric and deeply cut. Local materials. Manuscript label: Donald Urquhart / Tain. N.B. 1897 [Rattray]

He was born at Balblair, near Invergordon, on Aug. 17, 1859, and educated at Jaminaville Free Church school, in the parish of Resolis. He has received no training in violin-making, but his highly developed sense of the beautiful, and masterly deftness in the handling of keen-edged tools, have enabled him to overcome the difficulties of the art. He commenced to make fiddles fifteen years ago, and also to experiment in varnish. Since then the varnish question has occupied a great deal of his attention, and it must be said that he has succeeded in producing an oil varnish of great beauty and lustre. This is made in three shades, dark yellow, light orange, and deep orange red. The colour is absolutely permanent in the strongest sunlight. During the varnishing the instruments are exposed to the full blaze of the sun from April to September in a conservatory window, where the thermometer on sunny days registers 125 degrees (Fahr.). The colour is not affected in the least — if anything, it becomes more lustrous after this fiery ordeal. The one drawback of the varnish is that, being so tough and elastic, it is exceedingly difficult to polish, and takes months to dry even in the strongest sunlight, but Mr. Urquhart succeeds in giving it a perfectly polished surface. The outline and arching are those of a full-sized Strad. The sound-holes are modified. The scroll is altogether original and a most graceful piece of work. Its chief differentiating characteristic is the deep scooping of the volute and the consequent boldness of its axis. In no other maker have I observed this peculiarity turned to advantage. The wood of the back is of the usual description and of good quality, whilst that of the belly is really fine. The ” reed ” of the pine in the two specimens I examined is fully one-seventh of an inch wide, and is even throughout. The edges are strong, and the margin full. The thicknesses are carefully graduated and the instruments are left strong in wood. The inside is finished so finely that the wood has a polish, and there is not a suspicion of the presence of glue lines. The tone, although not powerful, is sweet and mellow. On the D and A strings it is fine. The first octave on the third string has the juicy richness of the Chalumeau in the clarionet. Had Urquhart succeeded in getting power along with this characteristic, he would have created something new in violin tone, which is about as possible, perhaps, as the existence of a pair of contradictories which are compatible with regard to both truth and falsehood.

Er hat aus Liebhaberei zwar nur eine kleine Anzahl, aber gute Violinen gemacht. Besonders schön ist der von ihm selbst zubereitete Öllack.