Worcester School
Henry Handley
Worcester, b. 1839
after 1927 Worcester UK. Amateur violinist and acquaintance of Sir Edward Elgar. Self-taught maker, credited with 106 violins, six violas, and two cellos. Workshop in College Street. Classical and personal models, using commercial Whitelaw oil varnish; amber colour. Skilful repairer. Henry Handley F\u{2026} — John Dilworth
Auction price history
Highest auction price
| Type | Details | Sold | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violin | Two-piece birds eye maple back, varnish of a reddish brown colour on a golden ground | September 2024 | £561 |
| Violin | 1902 | December 1994 | £644 |
| Violin | 1897 | August 1993 | £506 |
| Violin | 1897 | April 1993 | £286 |
| Violin | 1899 | September 1989 | £187 |
| Violin | 1903 | November 1988 | £396 |
| Violin | 1918 | November 1986 | £286 |
| Viola | 40.6 cm 1903 | September 1984 | £848 |
Biographies
The overview above is drawn from the following published accounts. Read them in the original:
John Dilworth+
HANDLEY, Henry Born 1839, d. after 1927 Worcester UK. Amateur violinist and acquaintance of Sir Edward Elgar. Self-taught maker, credited with 106 violins, six violas, and two cellos. Workshop in College Street. Classical and personal models, using commercial Whitelaw oil varnish; amber colour. Skilful repairer. Henry Handley Fiddle Restorer and Maker / Worcester / No. 101 Neath the shadow of Worcester’s Cathedral Town, I worked on this fiddle full many an hour. In my 80th year I fashioned the whole. It now needs a player to bring out the Soul.
William Meredith Morris+
He was born in 1839. He began to make professionally in 1886, and up to the present he has made about eighty violins, violas, and violoncellos. He follows the model of a Guarnerius violin of the date of 17 15, and the workmanship is good and careful all over. The wood is carefully selected, and the varnish is Whitelaw’s ” Amati ” colour. The tone has none of the Joseph characteristics ; it is moderately powerful and fairly clear and responsive. The plates are left thickly wooded, and the tone will probably be much better when age and use have done their work. Facsimile label : —
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Working in Worcester at the same time
Alfred Dana worked 1870–1893
Charles Gilwee 1860–1935
Hopkins worked 1850–1875
James Oliver Mccauley 1819–1900
S. F. Parsons 1844–1923
William L. Peters worked 1885–1903