Johann Nicolaus Lentz

LENTZ, Johann Niolaus b. Tyrol Austria, Worked from c.1801 London UK. Employed by Bernhard Fendt. Worked in Duke Street, St James’s, and Chelsea. Violins and cellos in various styles made for dealers. Varnish has darkened considerably with age. Johann Nicolaus Lentz, London / Fecit, No 40 Duke Street, / St James’s, 18.. Johann Nicolaus Lentz fecit. / near the Church, Chelsea. 1803. Johann Nicolaus Lentz fecit / Lower Sloane Street, Chelsea, 1813 [Hill Archive]

He used mostly one kind of wood, viz., close-grained maple. Varnish nearly opaque. Johann Nicolaus Lentz, fecit near the Church, Chelsea. 1803.

A German who came from the Tyrol to London ; was a friend of Bernhard Fendt, and thus probably gained some knowledge of violin making. He began his own business in Chelsea about 1800; he was a good maker, generally used a close-grained maple-wood, and varnish similar to that used by Dodd and J. F. Lott, sen.

Ein Deutscher, der angeblich aus Tyrol eingewandert war. Er war mit
Bernhard Fendt befreundet und erhielt von diesem vermuthlich erst Unterricht
im Geigenmachen. Er brachte es zu bemerkenswerther Geschicklichkeit; verwendete
gewöhnlich enggeflammtes Ahornholz und gebrauchte einen Lack, der dem von Dodd
und J. F. Lott sen. zwar ähnlich, aber wenig durchsichtig ist.