Antonio Stradivari 1663
"ex BACK"
Violin c.1666–1669 “NN” This instrument belongs to the early production of the Cremonese master and it resembles to some extent the work of Nicolò Amati (1596–1684) but also that of Francesco Ruggeri (c.1630–c.1698). It has a one-piece back made from maple wood cut on the slab with uneven curls running almost horizontally and a sap mark on the upper left side. The sides and the scroll are also made from maple with lively flames of medium width. The top is
made of two pieces of spruce finely grained in the centre and widening toward the flanks. The varnish is of an orange colour over a golden ground. There is hardly any information available on the past of this violin. In the late 1970s
it belonged to the dealer and collector Harry A. Duffy of Miami, Florida. In 1987 the instrument was in the hands of Mr. Frank Henderson of Seattle, Washington, who apparently bought it via the renowned French luthier Jacques Français. Afterwards the violin returned to J. Français in order to be sold to the Romanian violinist Eugene Sarbu, winner of the First Prize at the International Violin Competition ‘Premio Paganini’ in Genoa, the First Prize at the Carl Flesch International Competition in London, and others. In 1993 Mr. E. Sarbu sold the instrument to a private owner and since then it is part of a prestigious collection in Venice, Italy. The violin was publicly exhibited in La
Chaux-de-Fond, Switzerland, in 19931, in Cremona during the 2nd edition of the Settimana della Cultura in April 2000, and in Castel S. Angelo2, Rome, Italy, in 2001.
note a cura di Alessandra Barabaschi
1 Lebet, Claude, “Exposition Huit violons de Stradivarius”, Musée d’Histoire et
Médaillier, La Chaux-de-Fond, 25–31 October 1993, p. 4. 2 Lebet, Claude, “L'arte
del violino: la liuteria classica italiana e la Scuola di Roma” catalogue of the
exhibition held at Castel S. Angelo, December 2001, p. 14.
made of two pieces of spruce finely grained in the centre and widening toward the flanks. The varnish is of an orange colour over a golden ground. There is hardly any information available on the past of this violin. In the late 1970s
it belonged to the dealer and collector Harry A. Duffy of Miami, Florida. In 1987 the instrument was in the hands of Mr. Frank Henderson of Seattle, Washington, who apparently bought it via the renowned French luthier Jacques Français. Afterwards the violin returned to J. Français in order to be sold to the Romanian violinist Eugene Sarbu, winner of the First Prize at the International Violin Competition ‘Premio Paganini’ in Genoa, the First Prize at the Carl Flesch International Competition in London, and others. In 1993 Mr. E. Sarbu sold the instrument to a private owner and since then it is part of a prestigious collection in Venice, Italy. The violin was publicly exhibited in La
Chaux-de-Fond, Switzerland, in 19931, in Cremona during the 2nd edition of the Settimana della Cultura in April 2000, and in Castel S. Angelo2, Rome, Italy, in 2001.
note a cura di Alessandra Barabaschi
1 Lebet, Claude, “Exposition Huit violons de Stradivarius”, Musée d’Histoire et
Médaillier, La Chaux-de-Fond, 25–31 October 1993, p. 4. 2 Lebet, Claude, “L'arte
del violino: la liuteria classica italiana e la Scuola di Roma” catalogue of the
exhibition held at Castel S. Angelo, December 2001, p. 14.
