A GOOD ITALIAN VIOLIN BY ENRICO ROCCA, GENOVA, 1898

Labeled, “Rocca Enrico fu Giuseppe, fecit in Genova, anno Domini 1898.”
LOB 35.5 cm
* Sold with a certificate, a bill of sale and correspondence with Rembert Wurlitzer, New York (February 14, 1963).

Though his father Giuseppe was among the finest classical makers of the Turin School, Enrico Rocca (1847-1915) is best considered squarely in the context of the modern Italian tradition. He was born in Turin but moved to Genoa at an early age. In his early working years he was registered at one time as a carpenter and it is thought that he worked in the shipyards of Genoa.

His training in violinmaking most likely came not from his father’s tutelage but from his contemporary Eugenio Praga, whose conservation of the ex-Paganini ‘Cannon’ Guarneri may have promoted Rocca’s adoption of that particular model for much of his career.

This 1898 example exhibits numerous hallmarks of Enrico Rocca’s characteristic style, such as the small and blackened scroll chamfers and the crisp, elongated corners. The narrow purfling, which extends far into the corners to pinched beestings, is placed rather far from the edges and passes to the inside of the saddle instead of being interrupted by it. Unpolished varnish makes this an appealing middle-period example of the maker.

Key source: Liuteria Italiana Vol. III – Liguria