 |
| The D'Egville (1735) by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù |
Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri was born into the Cremona dynasty of luthiers in 1698. His grandfather, Andrea, had been a fellow apprentice of Antonio Stradivari in the workshop of Nicolò Amati. It is estimated that Guarneri produced no more than 250 violins during his lifetime of which some 150 survive today.
He had a relatively short career working on his own account as the earliest violins created solely by Guarneri appear from the late 1720s and he died in 1744. Guarneri became known as del Gesù because the Christian monogram I.H.S was included on his labels from 1731 onwards.
He had a relatively short career working on his own account as the earliest violins created solely by Guarneri appear from the late 1720s and he died in 1744. Guarneri became known as del Gesù because the Christian monogram I.H.S was included on his labels from 1731 onwards.
The form of his instruments was based on those created by Stradivari. Some, including Paganini, consider that Guarneri’s violins are superior. While Stradivari maintained a consistent form and quality, Guarneri experimented with f-holes and other design features. The distinctive oil varnish of his instruments varies in colour from pale orange to orange brown, sometimes with a reddish tint.
In 1735 two violins left Guarneri del Gesù’s workshop and disappeared into historical oblivion. For the next hundred years their whereabouts are unknown but sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century the instruments came into the hands of John Hart.
The firm of John Hart (1805-74) was established in Lower Wardour Street. He had trained with Samuel Gilkes but made few instruments himself, rather he was renowned for his skill in restoration. Hart was the preeminent authority on the violin in Europe and assembled the finest collection of Italian violins ever known.
In 1855 at least one of the violins was bought from Hart by the amateur violinist Charles Hood Chichele Plowden (1796-1866). At the time of his death Plowden’s collection included a Nicolò Amati , three Antonio Stradivari and no fewer than six Guarneri del Gesù including the sibling 1735 instrument.
The instrument Plowden acquired in 1855 is now known as the ‘Plowden’. On Plowden’s death it returned to the dealer George Hart, son of John, before it was sold to Louis D’Egville in 1867. In the same year Louis appears to have bought the sibling Guarneri del Gesù directly from Plowden’s estate as George Hart isn’t listed in the instrument’s provenance. This violin is today known as the ‘D’Egville’.
The instrument Plowden acquired in 1855 is now known as the ‘Plowden’. On Plowden’s death it returned to the dealer George Hart, son of John, before it was sold to Louis D’Egville in 1867. In the same year Louis appears to have bought the sibling Guarneri del Gesù directly from Plowden’s estate as George Hart isn’t listed in the instrument’s provenance. This violin is today known as the ‘D’Egville’.
I found some info about this violin when I was researching my family tree, I don't know if you know -
ReplyDelete"Charlie Siem is a violinist of extraordinary talent and youthful exuberance. Born in London to a Norwegian father and a British mother, Charlie began to play the violin at the prodigious age of three, after hearing a performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto by the late Yehudi Menuhin and is fortunate to have been loaned a violin much beloved by Menuhin – his 1735 Guarneri del Gesu d’Egville – now owned by the Elderberry Foundation."
This is quite a famous violin!
Well done Shalalla. I had read about this and I believe that he has an album out - do people still call it an album? I think that you can listen to samples of him playing the d'Egville on his website http://www.charliesiem.com/.
ReplyDeleteHere is the violin in action via Charlie Siem: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/15/137180824/charlie-siem-tiny-desk-concert
ReplyDelete