Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù', Cremona, c. 1730, the 'Kreisler'
Violin: 40400
Imitation label dated 1733.
Dimensions taken with calipers
Back: Two-pieces of quarter-sawn maple descending from the centre joint; from the same log as the 'Stretton'
Scroll: Almost identical to a cello of 1731 bearing the label of Giuseppe 'filius Andreae'
Length of back: 35.5 cm
Upper bouts: 16.8 cm
Middle bouts: 11.2 cm
Lower bouts: 20.5 cm
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Notes:
"This instrument was part of the booty seized by British privateers when Junot's ship was captured and brought to Whitehaven in the Northwest of England. The vicar of Whitehaven bought the violin from one of the sailors for £2, and sold it to a collector, William Thomson, whose initials it still bears, branded in the scroll."Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú, Carlos Chiesa, John Dilworth, Roger Graham Hargrave, Stewart Pollens, Duane Rosengard & Eric Wen, Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú (2 volumes), London
"We feel, and feel very strongly, that no specimen can exemplify del Gesù in his mature youth more strikingly than that dated 1733 (Kreisler), which conceivably was made some years previous to that year. It stands at the threshold of the master's emancipation from the past, the f-holes still reveal his indebtedness to Stradivari, but model and form are his own. Timid of conception, perhaps when contrasted with the audacity of later years, yet admirably typifying those closely knit examples which from the tonal point of view stand up to the greatest."
The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family (1626-1762), W. Henry, Arthur F. & Alfred E. Hill, W. Henry, Arthur F. & Alfred E. Hill, The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family, London
Provenance
| General Junot | |
| Vicar of Whitehaven | |
| William Thompson | |
| Day | |
| c. 1875-c. 1913 | John Mountford |
| until 1913 | W. E. Hill & Sons |
| from 1913 | Robert E. Brandt |
| in 1926 | Sold by W. E. Hill & Sons |
| 1926-1952 | Fritz Kreisler |
| from 1952 | Library of Congress, Washington |
Known players
Fritz Kreisler
Certificates & Documents
- Dendrochronology report: Peter Klein, Hamburg (1998) Dating the youngest tree ring to 1704.
Letter: Alfred E. Hill, London (1926) To Fritz Kreisler: "... it [the violin] was being transported with Marshall Junot's baggage from Bordeaux to Lisbon, at the beginning of the XIX century, (the latter city being occupied by French troops under his command), when the vessel was captured by an English privateer & brought into Whitehaven, Cumberland. The violin passed into the hands of a sailor who sold it to the Parson of Whitehaven for £2. . . .My father declared the violin to be the finest 'Guarneri' he had ever seen. I recognize it to be one of the few of the first rank."
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References
The Strad, May, 1988, Roger Hargrave, London (illustrated)- The Strad 2006 Calendar, Newsquest Specialist Media, London (illustrated)
- 36 Famous Italian Violins, Alex Wasinski, Herman Gordon, New York (illustrated)
- The Strad, January, 1987, Michael Darnton, London (illustrated)
- Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú (2 volumes), Carlos Chiesa, John Dilworth, Roger Graham Hargrave, Stewart Pollens, Duane Rosengard & Eric Wen, Peter Biddulph, London (illustrated)
- Journal of the Violin Society of America, Vol. XVII, No. 2, Robert Bein, The Queens College Press, Flushing, NY (illustrated)
Kreisler’s Violins, Cozio Carteggio feature, Tully Potter, 2017- Journal of the Violin Society of America, Vol. XV, No. 3, Samuel Zygmuntowicz, The Queens College Press, Flushing, NY (illustrated)
- The Strad, May, 1988, London (illustrated)
- The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (illustrated)
- The Stringed Instrument Collection in the Library of Congress, Shinichi Yokoyama, Gakken
- The Violin Book, Bafalon, London (illustrated)
- The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family, W. Henry, Arthur F. & Alfred E. Hill, William E. Hill & Sons, London, 1931 (illustrated)
- The Violin Masterpieces of Guarneri del Gesù - Exhibition, Peter Biddulph, Peter Biddulph, London (illustrated)
- Journal of the Violin Society of America, Vol. V, No. 2, Albert Mell, The Queens College Press, Flushing, NY (illustrated)
- W. E. Hill & Sons Photographic Archive (illustrated)