Jacob Steininger

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Jacob Steininger was the son-in-law and pupil of N. Dopfer. He was active in Mainz from around 1775, where Dopfer served as court luthier from 1756 until 1788, the year Steininger took over the position. The family left Mainz in 1792 due to the revolutionary wars, briefly residing in Frankfurt before settling in Aschaffenburg with the court of Frederick, Elector of Saxony. His sons Franz, Johannes, ...Read More and Nicolaus, along with Nicolaus Diehl, joined him in the family workshop there. Steininger's work exhibited considerable variability. The characteristic Mainz model resembled Gagliano's style, featuring full broad arching, a strong Stradivarian outline, and small outward-pointing corners. The soundholes were typically upright and widely spaced, with a cramped upper half, a small upper circle, and a short narrow wing, but a large and prominent lower circle. The nicks were cut broad, straight, and deep. In his later work, these distinctive soundholes became more open and developed an inward slope at the upper end. The scrolls were neatly concentric, though somewhat unrefined. Internal work was quite coarse, with small linings spliced into the corner blocks in typical German style, rather than morticed. The poorest work displayed a very Germanic appearance reminiscent of commercial production of the period, characterized by exaggerated Staineresque scrolls and a rather careless layout. Materials were not often exceptional, and the varnish typically appeared as a soft golden-orange or pale golden-brown. Read Less

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