Nicolò Amati, Cremona, 1656, the 'King Louis XIV, Youssoupov, Panajeff, Medici'
Violin: 42580
Back: One-piece curly maple cut on the half slab with fleur-de-lis in the corners and at the top and bottom center, and double purfling
Top: one-piece spruce with fleur-de-lis in the corners and double purfling
Scroll: Ornamented with fleur-de-lis
Ribs: of curly maple quarter-cut
Varnish: brownish golden-orange
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Notes:
Vuillaume made several copies of the instrument before selling to Youssoupov. The original was stolen from a Washington museum in 1967.The "Youssoupoff" Amati, The Strad, March, 1967, London
According to Herrmann, Vuillaume sold the instrument to Liodor de Panajeff, whose family maintained possession until 1930.
Amati Quartet, Amati Quartet, Ex-John Jay & Sandra Day O'Conner
"The earliest instrument, the 'King Louis XIV', made in 1656, is preseumed to be the first ornamented violin in existence. 'Ornamented' is an understatement. It is delicately inlaid with rubies and emeralds in a fleur-de-lys pattern."
Harmonious Blend, Barbara L. Sand, The Strad, July, 1987, London
"In 1966, while members of this quartet [the Claremont String Quartet of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem] were dining in a Brooklyn restaurant, the jewelled Amati was stolen from the cellist's car. Oddly enough the cello, also in the car, was not taken. The whereabouts of the violin or who might have played it remained a mystery for five years, protected by the uniqueness and fame of the violin, which could not be bought or sold legitimately without accounting for its recent history. When the instrument appeared at Jacques Francais' New York shop one day in 1971, he recognized it immediately; it was returned to the Corcoran Gallery intact and undamaged."
Ex-Louis XIV Nicola Amati, 1656, The Strad, August, 1983, London
"If he [Emil Herrmann] had to choose one violin from all the treasures he has ever handled, he would pick the grand-pattern Nicolo Amati, made in 1656, with double purfling and tiny rubies and emeralds inlaid in the wood."
Trustee in Fiddledale - I, Joseph Wechsberg, The New Yorker, October 17, 1953, New York
Provenance
King Louis XIV of France | |
1855-1868 | Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume |
Liodor Panajeff | |
Prince Nicholas Yusupov | |
until 1940 | Emil Herrmann, New York |
from 1940 | Gerald F. Warburg |
until 1949 | Emil Herrmann, New York |
from 1949 | Anna E. Clark |
Corcoran Gallery of Arts | |
Dr Herbert R. Axelrod | |
in 2000 | Smithsonian Institution Museum |
Known players
Koichiro Harada
Certificates & Documents
- Certificate: Emil Herrmann, New York, New York, NY (1949)
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References
- Amati Quartet, Ex-John Jay & Sandra Day O'Conner, Machold Rare Violins (illustrated)
- Antonio Stradivari - Catalogue of the 2008 Exhibit in Montpelier, Peter Biddulph, Frédéric Chaudière & John Dilworth, Musée Fabre / Actes Sud, Montpelier (illustrated)
- Evelyn & Herbert Axelrod Stringed Instrument Collection, Herbert Axelrod (illustrated)
- The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (illustrated)
- The Strad, August, 1983, London
- The Strad, July, 1987, Barbara L. Sand, London
- The Strad, March, 1967, London (illustrated)
- The Emil Herrmann Collection - Part I, Andy Lim & Gregory Singer, Darling Publications, Cologne / New York (illustrated)
- The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (illustrated)
- The New Yorker, October 17, 1953, Joseph Wechsberg, New York