Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Brescia, 1600, the 'Dumas Tenor'
Viola: 40414
Back: Two-piece with the curl slanting down from the center joint; double-purfled
Top: Two-piece, with strong close grain, widening towards the outsides; double-purfled
Ribs: cut on the slab
Varnish: Rich golden brown
Length of back: 42.45 cm
Upper bouts: 20.28 cm
Middle bouts: 13.18 cm
Lower bouts: 24.59 cm
There are 3 additional images in the archive which are not available publicly. Please contact us for more information.
Notes:
"More spectacular was the mark-up on a rare viola by Giovanni Paulo Maggini, named the "Dumas" after its original owner. It was valued by Biddulph at £200,000 in 1992, even though he had in 1990 valued two lesser Maggini violas for another client at £300,000 and £400,000. Although the estate agreed to sell the Dumas to Howard Gottlieb for £200,000, instead James Warren bought it for that price, together with a Guarnieri violin for £150,000, after Gottlieb allegedly discovered flaws in the instruments.Although Biddulph claims to have doubted the authenticity of the scroll on the Dumas - doubts confirmed by WE Hill's recently published records - Warren had none, and promptly valued it at $1m, then consigned it to Bein & Fushi, who sold it as 'perfect' three months later for £750,000."
News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition | The Guardian
One of the instruments exhibited in Brescia in June, 2007 at the "Gio Paolo Maggini Secoli di dettagli" exhibition.
Gio Paolo Maggini, Exhibition - Brescia, Italy, 2007
"The instrument maintains its original dimensions and all the characteristics of the violin making of Maggini.."
Liutai in Brescia: 1520-1724, Eric Blot, Liutai in Brescia: 1520-1724, Cremona
"As a specimen of Maggini's violas the Dumas instrument may confidently be pronounced unsurpassable. It will bear comparison with the finest violas of the other great makers."
Gio: Paolo Maggini: His Life and Work, Margaret L.Huggins, Margaret L.Huggins, Gio: Paolo Maggini: His Life & Work, London
Provenance
| Luigi Tarisio | |
| from 1840 | Pierre & Hippolyte Silvestre |
| Dumas Brothers | |
| until 1892 | W. E. Hill & Sons |
| from 1892 | John McGowan |
| until 1896 | W. E. Hill & Sons |
| from 1896 and in 1897 | Baron Johann Knoop |
| until 1918 | W. E. Hill & Sons |
| from 1918 | H. M. Dowson |
| Sold by W. E. Hill & Sons | |
| Ernest A. Sandeman | |
| until 1940 | W. E. Hill & Sons |
| ... | ... |
| from 1940 and in 1959 | Horace Egar Bowles |
| until 1958 | W. E. Hill & Sons |
| 1958-1992 | Gerald Segelman |
| in 1992 | Segelman Trust |
| in 1992 | Sold by James Warren |
| from 1992 | Anonymous |
| in 2007 | Current owner |
Certificates & Documents
- Dendrochronology report: John C. Topham, Surrey (2013) Dating the youngest tree ring to 1571.
Certificate: Bein & Fushi, Inc, Chicago, IL (1993) "The Viola is the best example by the maker that we have seen."- Certificate: W. E. Hill & Sons, London (1938)
- Certificate: Peter Biddulph, London
Certificate: Bein & Fushi, Inc, Chicago, IL (1993) "The Viola is the best example by the maker that we have seen."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
Gio Paolo Maggini, Exhibition - Brescia, Italy, 2007- Gio: Paolo Maggini in Brescia (exhibition catalog), nuovesettimanebaroche, Brescia (illustrated)
- Gio: Paolo Maggini: His Life & Work, Margaret L.Huggins, W. E. Hill & Sons, London
- The Strad, November, 1972, London (illustrated)
- Liutai in Brescia: 1520-1724, Eric Blot, Eric Blot Edizioni, Cremona (illustrated)
- The Strad, June, 1994, John Dilworth, Orpheus, London (illustrated)
- Mr Black's Violins: The extraordinary obsession of Gerald Segelman, Andrew Hooker, Cozio Publishing, Boston (illustrated)
- News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition | The Guardian
- The Strad, May, 1996, John Dilworth, Orpheus, London (illustrated)
Gio: Paolo Maggini in Brescia (exhibition catalog), nuovesettimanebaroche, Brescia (illustrated)
