Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1717, the 'Reiffenberg'
Violin: 41538
Bearing its original label, "Antonio Stradiuarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1717."
Back: Two-piece of medium curl descending from the center joint
Top: of medium grain
Scroll: of wood similar to back
Ribs: of wood similar to back
Varnish: Reddish over a yellow ground
Length of back: 35.6 cm
Upper bouts: 16.7 cm
Middle bouts: 10.8 cm
Lower bouts: 20.6 cm
There are 10 additional images in the archive which are not available publicly. Please contact us for more information.
Notes:
"This [instrument] has a scroll which has not the grace, the spirit of sculpture or the purity of line of Antonio's; it has corners and inlay parallel to the line of the ribs and clearly shows the hand of the sons in the cutting of the ff holes, while in all the rest one cannot notice appreciable differences from the work of the father, who certainly did not touch this instrument....""The label [is] very significant in that, while being the original autograph of Stradivari, it showed on a lower edge of unusual width, a form of script which out to have a precise meaning. Unfortunately someone had crossed it out, probably because it was likely to depreciate the value of the instrument. Under infra-red rays one can however read a "mio" or "mia" (my) which, from the length of the deletion and from the position in which this word is found, one is led to believe that the original writing was "fatto sotto la mia disciplina" (constructed under my teaching), a statement met with on other labels."
The 'Secrets' of Stradivari, Simone Fernando Sacconi, The 'Secrets' of Stradivari, Cremona
Provenance
| R. Coste | |
| Hugo Henri Reifenberg | |
| E. Hertel | |
| Sold by Wurlitzer | |
| Benjamin Cooper | |
| from 1900 | Silvestre & Maucotel |
| in 1949 | Mrs. Feuerman |
| until 1962 | Jacques Français |
| from 1962 | Jaime Laredo |
| until 1983 | Salvatore Accardo |
| from 1983 | Anonymous |
| in 2025 | Current owner |
Known players
Beverly Somach, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Jacques Thibaud, Jaime Laredo, Nathan Milstein, Salvatore Accardo
Certificates & Documents
Certificate: W. E. Hill & Sons, London (1977)- Certificate: Hamma & Co., Stuttgart (1977)
- Certificate: Étienne Vatelot, Paris (1974)
- Certificate: Jacques Français, New York, NY (1961)
- Certificate: Charles Enel, Paris (1934)
- Certificate: Silvestre & Maucotel, Paris (1901)
- Certificate: Wurlitzer, New York, NY
Letter: Wurlitzer, New York, NY
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
- A Fine Way to Treat ... an Estonia, 9-1-2003
- Antonio Stradivari and His Instruments, William Henley, Amati Publishing, Ltd., Sussex, 1961
Antonius Stradivarius (Volumes I-IV), Jost Thöne, Jan Röhrmann, Alessandra Barabaschi, Jost Thöne Verlag, Cologne, 2010 (illustrated)- Bongartz's Musical Instruments Auction Catalog, November 12, 1981, Cologne, Bongartz's, Bongartz's, Cologne (illustrated)
- Feine Streichinstrumente und Bögen, Geigenauktionen Bongartz, Aachen (illustrated)
- Private Archives - 10842, Wurlitzer
- The 'Secrets' of Stradivari, Simone Fernando Sacconi, Eric Blot Edizioni, Cremona (illustrated)
- The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Box 57 (illustrated)
- The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (illustrated)
- Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari 1644-1737, Herbert K. Goodkind, Larchmont, NY (illustrated)
- W. E. Hill & Sons Photographic Archive (illustrated)
- Worlds Apart