Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1720, the 'Bavarian'


Violin: 41488

Bearing its original label.

Back: One-piece

Length of back: 35.9 cm

Upper bouts: 16.8 cm

Middle bouts: 10.95 cm

Lower bouts: 20.8 cm


Notes:

Closely resembles the King Maximilian of 1709.

The Stradivarius Memorial Association, William Dana Orcutt, The Stradivari Memorial (1977), New York


". . .when Hermann was still in New York, a young lady, the daughter of a wealthy New York banker, bought a violin from him almost as impetuously as that. She appeared in the front room of his shop -- where strings and other trifling paraphernalia were sold -- and told the clerk on duty that she wanted to learn to play the violin, and would like to have a Stradivarius for her lessons. The clerk refused to take her seriously, but the girl persisted, and finally made her way into Herrmann's inner office, where she gazed in rapture at one of the beautiful instruments lying around there. Herrmann, with his air of polite indifference, told her it was not for her; it was the 'Bavarian' Stradivari, of 1720, a violin that had been in the possession of Bavarian royalty for many years. But if she cared to see a less expensive fiddle. . . 'Ah, Bavaria!' said the young lady. 'What a lovely country! I had the best time of my life there. I want to buy that violin.' She wrote out a check for thirty-two thousand [sic] dollars for it on the spot. Two years later, she abandoned her studies, but she still has the violin."

Trustee in Fiddledale - I, Joseph Wechsberg, The New Yorker, October 17, 1953, New York

Provenance

Prince of Donaueschingen
Anton Bohrer
Baron Ludwig Eichthal
until 1870 King Ludwig II of Bavaria
1870-1901 Benno Walter
until 1924 Jean Louis Courvoisier
until 1925 Alfred Vidoudez
1925-1928 Thomas C. Petersen
from 1928 Henri Verbrugghen
until 1940 Dr. Adrian Verbrugghen
in 1940 Sold by Emil Herrmann, New York
from 1940 Alice de Belmont
in 1945 Sold by Emil Herrmann, New York
until 1958 Rembert Wurlitzer Inc.
1958-1963 Maurice Wilk
1963-1968 Rembert Wurlitzer Inc.
from 1968 Dr. Frederico A. Lehmann
until 1976 Harry A. Duffy
... ...
in 1982 Sold by Harry A. Duffy
1976-1982 Alfred Hermanns
1982-1988 Sau-Wing Lam
from 1988 Current owner

Known players

Benno Walter, Bernard Kugel

Certificates & Documents

  • Certificate: Harry A. Duffy, Miami, FL (1982)
  • Letter: Harry A. Duffy, Miami, FL (1982)
  • Certificate: Harry A. Duffy, Miami, FL (1976)
  • Certificate: Rembert Wurlitzer Inc., New York, NY (1963)
  • Certificate: Rembert Wurlitzer Inc., New York, NY (1958)
  • Certificate: Emil Herrmann, New York, New York, NY (1940)
  • Certificate: Caressa & Français, Paris (1916)
  • Certificate: Alfred Vidoudez, Geneva
  • Certificate: W. E. Hill & Sons, London

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

  • Antonius Stradivarius (Volumes I-IV), Jost Thöne, Jan Röhrmann, Alessandra Barabaschi, Jost Thöne Verlag, Cologne, 2010 (illustrated)
  • Celebrated Violins and Their Owners
  • The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (illustrated)
  • How Many Strads? (1999 edition), Doring, Bein & Fushi, Bein & Fushi, Chicago, 1999 (illustrated)
  • Sau-Wing Lam, Dietmar Machold (illustrated)
  • The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (illustrated)
  • The Stradivari Memorial (1977), William Dana Orcutt, Da Capo Press, New York (illustrated)
  • Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari 1644-1737, Herbert K. Goodkind, Larchmont, NY (illustrated)
  • The New Yorker, October 17, 1953, Joseph Wechsberg, New York
  • Violons par Antonius Stradivarius de Crémone, Albert Caressa, Paris (illustrated)

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