Violin
Maker
Antonio Gragnani
Date1788
Place MadeLivorno, Italy, Europe
SignedPrinted on paper label, the last digit of year and symbol written in black ink: Antonius Gragnani fecit / Livorno Anno 1788 [cross on top of globe]Branded inside rectangle on lower rib under endpin, on back button, and on top at joint with neck under fingerboard: A-G
MarkingsWritten in black ink on thin paper label glued to top block near joint with neck: In te Domine Speravi [In you, God, I have hoped]
Die-stamped on inside of base of pegbox: 6446
DescriptionThis exceptionally well-preserved violin was part of the 1937 Stradivari Bicenntenial due to its original condition. The current tailpiece, however, was added later and is a late 18th or early 19th century example from Vienna or other German-speaking areas.
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: narrow grain broadening toward the edges and also near the center joint on the treble side; not notched at neck position
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple: faint, broad curl ascending from center joint
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: faint, broad curl; one-piece lower rib
Head and neck: maple: narrow curl; inside of pegbox not varnished
Purfling: does not continue under fingerboard
Varnish: light golden brown
Fingerboard: ebony-veneered black-stained hardwood; channeled under fingerboard position; wedge-shaped with notch at neck heel position; relatively flat profile
Nut: ebony
Tailpiece: ebony-veneered beech; raised platform on underside at tailgut position; key-shaped string holes; not saddle; later tailpiece of the period of the violin from Germany or Austria. Original tailpiece is seen on instrument in photographs from the 1937 Stradivari Bicentennial
Tailgut: silver wire soldered to silver rectangle mounted on front of tailpiece
Pegs: four medium red-brown hardwood with slightly undercut, concave heads; short shafts
Saddle: dark red-brown hardwood; no rise in height
Endpin: medium red-brown hardwood with decoratively turned head
F-holes: slightly curved notch corners
Linings: light hardwood; wide
Corner blocks: spruce
Top block: spruce; large iron nail through block into neck heel
Bottom block: spruce
Bassbar: later; original, low in height, preserved separately
Other: paper strips glued to inside of back along center joint in upper and lower bouts
DimensionsTotal violin length: 589 mm
Back length: 356 mm
Upper bout width: 166 mm
Center bout width: 107 mm
Lower bout width: 205 mm
Upper rib height: 30-31 mm
Center rib height: 31 mm
Lower rib height: 31-32 mm
Stop length: 193 mm
Vibrating string length: 224 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 130 mm
ProvenancePurchased from descendents of the original owners by Simone Fernando Sacconi, New York, New York, at the time of the Stradivari Bicentennial exhibition, Cremona, 1937. Witten acquired from Emil Herrmann, New York, New York, in 1962.
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten Family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Credit LineWitten-Rawlins Collection, 1984
Object number03357
On View
Not on view
