In December 2009 the William Moennig & Son firm in Philadelphia closed its doors after 100 years in business. The firm was one of the finest and oldest American violin shops and built a reputation of service, quality and tradition. Four generations of Moennigs attended to the needs of many of the world’s top musicians and collectors.
In late June Tarisio will sell the contents of the Moennig shop in what promises to be a very exciting sale. We have cataloged over 800 lots of instruments, bows, photographs, books, ephemera and tonewood. A complete news release for the sale can be found here.
The sale will include a little of something for everyone. Among the items to be sold are:
- Over 100 fine instruments and bows from the Moennig private collection
- Instruments made by five generations of the Moennig family
- Photographs of nearly every major musician of the 20th century, many signed and inscribed
- Early 20th century custom cabinets for storing and displaying violins and bows
- A large selection of seasoned tonewood
- Vintage fittings and accessories
- Seasoned bridge blanks
- A Steinway 7-foot model-B grand piano from c. 1925
- “New-old-stock” bows and accessories
- Scrolls and frogs from important makers
- A large collection of unusual and historical instruments
- A rare mint condition Ferdinand Gagliano viola d’amore
- A fifty-six binder photographic archive of the instruments and bows sold by the firm
- Reference materials and books
The Moennig Showroom, c. 1980
The online catalog will be available after March 15th. In the meanwhile, as we finish the cataloging and photography we’ll be posting some of the highlights here on these pages. We hope you enjoy the sale.