Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù', Cremona, 1741, the 'Vieuxtemps'
Violin: 40433
Back: Two-piece
Scroll: by Guarneri del Gesú
Varnish: Red-brown, pierced by tiny pin-prick bubbles
Length of back: 35.4 cm
Upper bouts: 16.3 cm
Middle bouts: 10.9 cm
Lower bouts: 20.5 cm
There are 2 additional images in the archive which are not available publicly. Please contact us for more information.
Notes:
"In 1804, Count Cozio described the violin as being 'too high in the ribs and strong in the wood' with 'a small tone.' 270 years later, Yehudi Menuhin wrote a letter expressing his preference for the tone of this violin over his own Stradivari, the 'Soil' of 1714. . . The arching of this instrument is very Brescian. In fact, the form is practically identical to an instrument made by Gasparo da Salò."Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú, Carlos Chiesa, John Dilworth, Roger Graham Hargrave, Stewart Pollens, Duane Rosengard & Eric Wen, Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú (2 volumes), London
"Eugene Ysaÿe obtained Vieuxtemps' Guarnerius on loan. This magnificent instrument later belonged to the greatly lamented Philip Newman (1904-1966) who played at The Master's bedside on the eve of his death."
Ysaÿe, Antoine Ysaÿe, Ysaÿe, Great Missenden
Last year the violin was acquired by a music patron for the limited and exclusive use of prominent American violinist Anne Akiko Meyers. In 2013, it was announced the Anne was selected to receive lifetime use of the “Vieuxtemps Stoutzker” Guarneri del Gesù
J. & A. Beare - Notable Sales
Provenance
| until 1804 | Giacomo Antonio Monzino |
| until 1858 | Dr Benziger |
| from 1858 | Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume |
| in c. 1860 | Sold by Hart & Son |
| c. 1860-1881 | Henri Vieuxtemps |
| from 1881 | Eugène Ysaÿe |
| 1884-1891 | Duc de Camposelice |
| 1891-1927 | Maurice Sons |
| 1927-1942 | Robert Augustus Bower |
| until 1942 | W. E. Hill & Sons |
| in 1942 | Isaac Wolfson |
| 1942-1966 | Philip Newman |
| from 1966 | Anonymous |
| in 2013 | Sold by John & Arthur Beare |
| from 2013 | Current owner |
Known players
Anne Akiko Meyers, Eugène Ysaÿe, Henri Vieuxtemps, Philip Newman
Certificates & Documents
- Dendrochronology report: Peter Klein, Hamburg (1998) Dating the youngest tree ring to 1735; both sides match the bass side of the 1741 "Kochanski" (ID=2807).
Cozio holds copies of many certificates and other documents, some of which are available to view on request. Please contact us if you wish to view a particular document. (Note that we do not always have permission to share documents.)
References
The Strad, December, 2009, Caroline Gill, Newsquest Specialist Media, London (illustrated)
Eugène Ysaÿe and his violins, Cozio Carteggio feature, Tully Potter, July 18, 2018- The Strad, October, 1994, Stewart Pollens, Orpheus, 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)
- I Centenari Dei Guarneri: 1698-1998, Consorzio Liutai e Archettai "Antonio Stradivai", Cremona (illustrated)
- Italian Violin Makers (1964), Karel Jalovec, Paul Hamlyn, London, 1964
- Italienische Geigenbauer (1957), Karel Jalovec, Artia, Prague, 1957 (illustrated)
- J. & A. Beare - Notable Sales
- Meister Italienischer Geigenbaukunst (8th Edition), Hamma & Co., Florian Noetzel Verlag, Wilhelmshaven (illustrated)
- The Amadeus Book of the Violin
- The Strad, October, 1994, John Dilworth, Orpheus, 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)
- Vieuxtemp’s Violins, Cozio Carteggio feature, Tully Potter, Feb 2020
- W. E. Hill & Sons Photographic Archive (illustrated)
- Ysaÿe, Antoine Ysaÿe, W. E. Hill & Sons, Great Missenden