Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù', Cremona, c. 1741, the 'Vieuxtemps, Wilmotte'
Violin: 50024
Labeled, "Joseph Guarnerius fecit Cremone anno 1743."
Back: Two-piece
Length of back: 35.2 cm
Upper bouts: 16.68 cm
Middle bouts: 11 cm
Lower bouts: 20.4 cm
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Notes:
"Vieuxtemps played on the violin for over 15 years, and in his letter of 1878 he refers to it as his old friend and inseparable companion of 20 years. He also mentions that it helped him to compose his D minor concerto (no.4, op.31), which was published around 1850, so we can assume that he acquired the violin in the late 1840s. It is highly likely therefore that he would have given the première of his 4th and 5th concertos, which date from c.1850 and 1861 respectively, on this violin. In the letter he describes how the violin ‘performed’ his 4th concerto ‘avec un éclat et une puissance remarquable.’ "Correspondence with Sotheby's
Provenance
Mr. King-Saltar | |
c. 1844-c. 1870 | Henri Vieuxtemps |
c. 1870-1893 | André Wilmotte |
... | ... |
from 1905 and in 1918 | Eduard Ferdinand Küchler |
until 2008 | Eduard Küchler's family |
in c. 2008 | Sold by Sotheby's |
from 2008 | Anonymous |
in 2003 | Sold by Maggini Foundation |
Known players
Henri Vieuxtemps
Certificates & Documents
- Letter: Henri Vieuxtemps (1878) Refers to the instrument as "un des beaux spécimens du maitre, et d’une sonorité puissante et sympathique, tout à la fois."
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References
- Correspondence with Sotheby's, February, 2008
- The Strad, April, 2008, John Dilworth & Tim Ingles, Newsquest Specialist Media, London (illustrated)
- The Strad, April, 2003, Newsquest Specialist Media, London (illustrated)
- The Strad, March, 2003, Newsquest Specialist Media, London (illustrated)
- The Strad, November, 2002, Orpheus, London (illustrated)
- Ole Bull 2010: Guarneri del Gesu Collection, John Dilworth, Bergen (illustrated)
- Stradivarius-Guarnerius del Gesù: Catalogue descriptif de leurs instruments (Facsimile of Gand's notes from 1870-91), Charles-Eugène Gand, Les Amis de la Musique, Spa
- Vieuxtemp’s Violins, Cozio Carteggio feature, Tully Potter, Feb 2020