London Violin Auction sales results - The Big Violin Makers.

With a combined sales total of over 3 million pounds (GBP), it would seem that London was the place to sell a violin this November.
Bonhams and Sothebys held their central London autumn musical instrument sales on the 6th and 7th.

Whilst it seems that Sothebys is often the place to find a 'star lot' when it comes to musical gems, Bonhams seemed to generate more revenue from its sales this time. But there were some great violins on offer at both houses and perhaps the rather unusual circumstance of there being two violins by the great cremonese violin maker, Nicolo Amati* - one in each auction house.

Sothebys' c.1675 example with a 354mm back and handsomely-carved scroll, also came with a handsome estimate of 50-80,000 GBP. Bonahms' specimen dated from 1651 with slightly smaller proportions (350mm back length) and had a slightly smaller estimate of 30-40,000 GBP. Both of the instruments had one piece backs, Bonhams' example having really attractive slab cut wood. According to Phillip Scott, Bonhams' Musical Instrument Department expert, their 1651 instrument may never have been offered at auction before, having been in the same European family since 1871**. The 350 year old instrument, which perhaps unsurprisingly looked well-played, seemed to have some minor scroll and table restorations and was sold with a recent colour-illustrated certificate of authenticity from the London dealer and repairer, Florian Leonhard. Sothebys' example looked to be in fine condition and ended up reaching over three times the lower end of its estimate at 153,000 GBP, the highest priced lot in Sothebys' sale. Bonhams' Amati sold for almost three times less than the example across the road at Sothebys, attaining just 55,200 GBP.

Another maker who was represented by an instrument in each house was Ferdinand Gagliano. The Gagliano family were making instruments in Naples from about the beginning of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th. Ferdinando worked up until about the end of the 18th century. The violin at Bonhams dated from 1772 with a certificate from J & A Beare (the London experts and violin dealers) and had been the property of a professional musician since the 1960s. The tiny viola at Sothebys by the same maker, measured just 369mm in back length (14 1/2 inches) and it also had a certificate from the Beare establishment. William Henley remarks, in his Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers, that these small violas were sometimes cut down and converted into large violins, but it was nice to see that this example was still very much a viola. The violin at Bonhams, with an estimate of 65,000-75,000 GBP, failed to sell, whilst Sothebys' viola fetched 30,000 GBP.

The highest priced violin sold over the two days was at Bonhams - an instrument by Josef Filius Andreae Guarneri, Cremona. This impressive c.1710 instrument came with a Tree Ring Analysis Report (by John C.Topham) linking the wood on this instrument to several other Cremonese and Venetian instruments including some made by Guarneri del Gesu, Antonio Stradivari, J.B. Guadagnini, D. Montagnana and Santo Serafin. This scientific analysis no doubt helped the instrument reach its 229,600 GBP sale price.

There were several mid-priced violins sold at Sothebys, including a violin by Jean Baptiste-Vuillaume of 1843 for 45,600 GBP, a Jacob Stainer at 48,000 GBP, two violins by Giuseppe Pedrazzini of 1920 and 1921 (which fetched 24,000 GBP and 36,000 GBP respectively) and an Antonio Zanotti violin, c.1725, which reached a surprising 42,000 GBP - despite its pre-auction estimate of 7-10,000 GBP. Not bad for a maker whose work, according to William Henley, was worth £400 in 1960. But it seems that the odd surprise happened at Bonhams too, when a violin simply catalogued as 'A Violin of the Italian School' reached 42,000 GBP. Perhaps its J.B. Guadagnini label was original...?

It is nice to see that are still some great Cremonese instruments new to the auction scene that emerge from time to time. Perhaps there are still some undiscovered masterpieces waiting to be found in the distant corners of the world by modern-day Tarisios.....


* Further information on the Amati family and violin making style, attributes, etc, can be found in George Hart's The Violin: Its Famous Makers and their Imitators

** Info. from Phillip Scott's article on Bonhams' Musical Instrument Department podcast.

All auction prices quoted include tax and buyer's premium.

Fiona Vilnite, musicforstrings.com