Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1736, the 'Muir-McKenzie'
Violin: 40609
Back: One-piece
Notes:
Bears the inscription "d'anni 92."How Many Strads?, Doring, Bein & Fushi, Doring, Bein & Fushi, How Many Strads? (1999 edition), Chicago
Count Cozio's notes, February 20, 1823 [possibly referring to this instrument]: "Description of the violin made by Stradivari, and now owned by the accountant Mr. Ambrosoli, friend of [...] Leva, who works at the Seal Office of the monastery of Bochetto. This is one of the two violins sold by me to the late Odoardo Folli on July 4 1801. The label was made by Antonio Stradivari in 1730. Underneath, I have written "92 years old." This violin has no cracks, however it has several scratches on the varnish of the top, of its lower part, and of the side part of the tailpiece. The work is quite ordinary, with the exception of purfling and scroll.
One-piece back, with uneven flame. The neck is slab cut, with a little piece of wood behind its base. It was put in by Carlo Mantegazza in order to push the neck backwards, and to fill the hole made by one of the three nails used to fix a long neck. It was inserted by Gian Battista Guadagnini according to the fashion of the time in 1777, when I gave it to him in Turin. " (p. 284)
Memoirs of a Violin Collector: Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue, Memoirs of a Violin Collector: Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue, Baltimore
Provenance
Sold by W. E. Hill & Sons | |
Miss van der Weyer | |
until 1902 | W. E. Hill & Sons |
from 1902 | Sir Kenneth Muir-Mackenzie |
Sold by Emil Herrmann, New York | |
Arlie Furnam | |
from c. 1982 | Current owner |
Known players
Ani Kavafian, Mary Ellen Weathers
References
- How Many Strads? (1999 edition), Doring, Bein & Fushi, Bein & Fushi, Chicago, 1999
- Interview with Ani Kavafian: Manchester Music Festival, January 2020
- Memoirs of a Violin Collector: Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue, Brandon Frazier, Baltimore
- The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Box 43 (illustrated)
- Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari 1644-1737, Herbert K. Goodkind, Larchmont, NY (illustrated)