Violin
Maker
Pietro Giacomo Rogeri
Date1715
Place MadeBrescia, Italy, Europe
SignedHandwritten label inside reads: Violino Petrus Jacobus Ruggerius / fecit Brixiae 1715DescriptionPietro Giacomo Rogeri was the son of Giovanni Battista, who trained in Cremona with Nicolo Amati but settled in Brescia around 1675. He worked in the Cremonese tradition. This small-sized violin preserves its original fittings and bright orange varnish. The label the lid of the NMM's historic violin case NMM 3482 corresponds to the label in this violin. Both the instrument and the case were acquired from the Bisiachs and it seems that they are associated.
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: very fine grain broadening toward the flanks; slightly wavy grain on treble side toward center joint; one wood pin through top into top block on treble side of center joint; three wood pins through top into bottom block, one on treble side of center joint; top not notched at neck heel
Back: two-piece maple cut off-the-quarter: faint, medium, horizontal curl; filled pin hole through back into top block through center joint, toward bass side; maple pin through back into bottom block through center joint, toward bass side
Purfling: inlaid on top, burned on back; does not continue under fingerboard
Varnish: light red-orange
Fingerboard: ebony veneer over black-stained hardwood
Nut: bone; old but installed later from parts collection
Ribs: maple cut off-the quarter: faint medium curl; upper and lower bout ribs overlap center ribs at corners; slightly rounded edges at corners
Edging: edge not rounded under fingerboard
Tailpiece: ebony veneer over maple; tailgut passes through holes drilled in face
Tailgut: two pieces of plain gut; affixed at bottom with fine plain gut wrap
Saddle: ebony; flush with top; later; original extended into lower ribs, now patched
Endpin: bone
Linings: willow or poplar; center linings set into corner blocks
Corner blocks: spruce
Top block: spruce; three nails with forged heads
Bottom block: willow or poplar; narrow
Bassbar: later
Other: gouge marks on inside of back
DimensionsTotal violin length: 553 mm
Stop length: 176 mm
Vibrating string length: 307 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 123.8 mm (original); 126.6 (current)
Top length: 330 mm
Top upper bout width: 150.2 mm
Top center bout width: 102.2 mm
Top lower bout width: 185 mm
Back length: 329 mm
Back upper bout width: 154.5 mm
Back center bout width: 102.8 mm
Back lower bout width: 189 mm
Upper rib height: 27.2-28.9 mm
Center rib height: 28.3-29.4 mm
Lower rib height: 28.8-29.6 mm
ProvenanceFrom the Bisiach Collection, Venegono Superiore, Italy, acquired from the heirs by Laurence Witten, 1968.
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Published ReferencesGreg Dean Petersen, "Bridge location on the early Italian violin," Early Music 35, No. 1 (February 2007), pp. 49-64.
Credit LineWitten-Rawlins Collection, 1984
Object number03362
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