Violin
Date1640-1750 ca.
Place MadePesaro, Italy, Europe
Place MadeAustria-Hungary, Europe
Place MadeBrescia, Italy, Europe
SignedPrinted on long paper label in large type: Gaſparo da Salò, in Breſcia.MarkingsBranded on both sides of bridge: J.M.SOMNY [Joseph Maurice Somny, worked in London from 1888, d. 1931)
DescriptionThis violin was attributed to Pesaro or Brescia for many years, but has soundholes and arching atypical of that area. Many violins were made North of the Alps with lion's heads atop the pegboxes, but the design here is also unique.
Top: one-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain
Back: two-piece, slab-cut maple: very broad curl ascending from center joint; wood pin through button into neck heel; later ebony heel cap
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: faint narrow curl; two wood pins through lower rib into bottom block below endpin
Head and neck: maple: narrow curl; pegbox in the form of lion rampant with red coloring in mouth; neck set into new heel and thinned
Arching: high
Purfling: two dark strips, no light center strip
Decoration: geometric inlay comprised of two dark strips of wood along center joint of back
Varnish: medium orange-brown on body, dark red-brown on head
Fingerboard: ebony; later
Nut: ebony; later
Tailpiece: horn; silver saddle; embossed silver flower set into face
Tailgut: copper wire
Pegs: four brown-varnished boxwood with undercut, concave heads and silver pins
Saddle: ebony; later; original descended into lower rib
Endpin: ebony; later
F-holes: strongly curved wings; steeply undercut; inside edges stained black
Linings: maple except where replaced with spruce in upper and lower bouts
Corner blocks: spruce; small
Top block: light hardwood; later
Bottom block: light hardwood; later
Bassbar: spruce; very wide; later
DimensionsTotal violin length: 586 mm
Back length: 355 mm
Upper bout width: 162 mm
Center bout width: 102 mm
Lower bout width: 198 mm
Upper rib height: 28-31 mm
Center rib height: 29-32 mm
Lower rib height: 29-32 mm
Stop length: 199 mm
Vibrating string length: 333 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 133 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 ReferencesAndré P. Larson, The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion: National Music Museum, 1988), p. 52.
John Koster, “Museum Collections as Resources for Musical Instrument Makers,” American Lutherie No. 42/Summer 1995, pp. 26-35.
Greg 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 number03358
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