Notes:

Shown at the Exhibition of Venetian instruments in Boston, May, 2002.

The Violinmakers of Venice, The Violinmakers of Venice: 1582-1885 (CD-ROM), Boston

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"I was very keen to see this violoncello in the Lutyens collection, so that I could compare it with several violoncellos sailing under the colours of Carlo Bergonzi, and I must at once say that it is a finer specimen than any instrument I have yet seen except those by the finest of all makers, Stradivari himself; indeed I am told that for many years it passed as the work of Stradivari. In general character there is much of the Strad about it. The chief difference is in the scroll, and perhaps in the character of the soundholes. The scroll - although finely cut - seems cramped when compared with the well-known flowing lines of Strad, the soundholes are not quite so grand and seem to be placed a trifle nearer the centre than is the case with Stradivari. On the whole, however, the instrument has the outline and modelling of a fine Strad, and the wood and varnish are almost perfect. The varnish is even more Cremonese in character than Venetian, and the colour is a fine tawny chestnut. The wood of the table is a beautiful straight-grained piece of pine, and the back, in two pieces, of a medium flame, is arranged with the markings herringbone fashion—that is with the flame running upwards from the centre."

The Lutyens collection: Violoncello by Matteo Gofriller, Arthur Broadley, The Strad, 1924, London