Giovanni Battista Tononi, Bologna, 1740
Cello: 46751
Bearing its original label, "Joannes Baptista De Tononis / fecit Bononiae 1740."
Length of back: 72.0 cm
Upper bouts: 32.8 cm
Middle bouts: 22.4 cm
Lower bouts: 40.7 cm
Notes:
". . . . the only known instrument possessing his [G. Tononi's] label. An X-ray photograph of the instrument reveals the original nails used to fasten the neck to the top block."Preservation or incarceration, Pierre Ruhe, The Strad, November, 1997, London
"Although Giovanni Battista Tononi has hitherto been unknown as a member of the chief violinmaking family of Bologna (the others are earlier), all experts who have examined the cello are agreed that the label gives every evidence of being genuine, and there can be no question of the eighteenth century date of the instrument itself, which is preserved in extraordinarily fresh condition."
The Classic Bowed Stringed Instruments from the Smithsonian Institution, The Classic Bowed Stringed Instruments from the Smithsonian Institution, Tokyo
Provenance
| Sold by Étienne Vatelot | |
| Sold by Hamma & Co. | |
| Sold by Jacques Français | |
| Laurence C. Witten | |
| in 1979 | Smithsonian Institution Museum |
Certificates & Documents
Letter: Hamma & Co., Stuttgart (1970) To Jacques Francais.
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, November, 1997, Pierre Ruhe, Orpheus, London (illustrated)- The Classic Bowed Stringed Instruments from the Smithsonian Institution, Gakken Co., Tokyo (illustrated)