Square Labelled Maidstone Violin
Most Maidstone violins have an oval label depicting two girls dancing. Murdoch, who imported most of his Maidstone violins from the Saxony area of Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, later involved his son in the company. Hence the later models were labelled "Murdoch and Murdoch and Co. There are the typical oval labels bearing the simple name Murdoch and Co and later ones as "Murdoch and Murdoch and Co. As far as I know, all the square ones simply say Murdoch and Co just like the one in the picture below. Some experts claim the square labeled violins are best. Rumours exist that some Maidstone violins were made in what was then named Czecho-Slovakia (Bohemia) and even France. Moreover, that not all Murdoch violins were Maidstone's. I own another square labelled Maidstone violin that I repaired. I must say it beats into the ground all my oval labelled Maidstone's - using the same strings ( Thomas Infeld Vienna, Alphayou - synthetic core strings). Here