An excellent example of Lockey Hill, very powerful sound with a dark character, and energetic, focused, modulable tone, with an ease of playability. Stainer model with lower Stradivari-influenced arching, nearly identical to the example pictured in the BVMA British Violin book. The violin has been restored into a very healthy state, with some restorations to the top, including a post patch, and slight bend of the back plate. It is accompanied with a certificate from Reuning and Sons dated 2018.
 
Dimensions:
LOB 35.2cm
UB 16.2cm
MB 10.6cm
LB 20.2cm
Stop Length 13.2cm
 
Bio:
Joseph Hill's fifth and most distinguished violin-making son Lockey Hill was born in 1756. He produced a great many trade instruments, often for the firms of Longman & Co. or Longman & Broderip. These instruments approximate the level of his father's lesser work, with a thin varnish and painted purfling, and vaguely follow Stainer and Amati models with powerful lower arching, though the differences between the two are barley recognizable. On occasion he used deeper golden or red varnishes, and many of his instruments bear a small notch in the inner edge of the back in the upper and lower bouts, which was filled in with maple. Other makers for the firm of Longman employed this technique, but its function is unknown.

Lockey Hill worked steadily through the 1790s, and after 1785 instruments bearing his own label are more common. His son Henry Lockey was a respected maker in his own right and took over Hill's shop after his death in 1810.