Bow & Bridge

Balestrieri, Tommaso

As printed

  1. Cremona. Eine Charakteristik der italienischen Geigenbauer und ihrer Instrumente (1919)

    As printed on this page: “BALESTRIERI, Tommaso, Mantua 1720—1772. Schüler von Antonio Stradivari. Machte gute, sehr viel verlangte Instrumente. Seine Violinen ermangeln der Feinheit, besitzen aber eine”

    p. 17

  2. A dictionary of violin makers (1896)

    Balestrieri (Balestieri), Tommaso, brother of Pietro. A maker in Cremona about 1720-57, then in Mantua till about 1772. Said to have been a pupil of Stradivari; …

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    scan page 14, line 21

    2. Balestrieri (Balestieri), Pietro, brother of Tommaso. His instruments are inferior. He worked at Cremona about 1725.
    4. Balestrieri (Balestieri), Tommaso, brother of Pietro. A maker in Cremona about 1720-57, then in Mantua till about 1772. Said to have been a pupil of Stradivari; there is a rough general resemblance in his work to that done by Stradivari in the last years of his life (1730-37), but no comparison in point of merit. He made some good violins, a few violas, and violoncellos of fine tone. The wood varies, that used for the bellies was carefully selected; the tone is powerful and becomes richer with age. He used two kinds of varnish, one resembling that of Guadagnini, the other softer and richer in colour. Label: "Thomas Balestrieri, Cremonensis, fecit Mantuae, 1762."
    6. Ballantine, was working in Edinburgh in 1850 and in Glasgow in 1856.

  3. A dictionary of violin makers (n.d.)

    Balestrieri, Tommaso. A maker in Cremona about 1720-57, then in Mantua till about 1772. Said to have been a pupil of Stradivari; there is a rough …

    scan page 16, line 21See the scans: 16, 16source record

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    scan page 16, line 21

    2. Baker, William. A fine viola, varnish light yellow, by "William Baker of Oxford, 1683," and a violin of his were formerly in Mr. Taphouse's collection.
    4. Balestrieri, Tommaso. A maker in Cremona about 1720-57, then in Mantua till about 1772. Said to have been a pupil of Stradivari; there is a rough general resemblance in his work to that done by Stradivari in the last years of his life (1730-37), but no comparison in point of merit. He made some good violins, a few violas, and violoncellos of fine tone. The wood varies, that used for the bellies was carefully selected; the tone is powerful and becomes richer with age. He used two kinds of varnish, one resembling that of Guadagnini, the other softer and richer in colour. Label: "Thomas Balestrieri, Cremonensis, fecit Mantuae, 1762." The work of his brother Pietro, in Cremona, 1725, was inferior.
    6. Ballantine, was working in Edinburgh in 1850 and in Glasgow in 1856.
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  1. An encyclopedia of the violin (1925)

    BALESTRIERI, TOMMASO, Mantua, 1720 to 1788. The opinions regarding Balestrieri differ greatly, some claiming he was a pupil of Pietro Guanerius …

    scan page 33, line 38; scan page 35, line 35See the scans: 33, 35source record

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    scan page 33, line 38

    1. BAGNINI, ORAZIO, Florence, 1661 to 1667.
    2. BAINES, ——, London, 1780.
    3. BAKER, JOHN, Oxford, 1688 to 1720.
    4. BALESTRIERI, TOMMASO, Mantua, 1720 to 1788. The opinions regarding Balestrieri differ greatly, some claiming he was a pupil of Pietro Guanerius while others claim he was a pupil of Stradivarius. This seems to be more correct, as Balestrieri took part in the last works of the great artist. His model is large, with a reddish-yellow or orange-yellow varnish, suggesting the Guadagnini instruments, and have improved, probably through age, greatly in beauty of tone. The label

  2. An encyclopedia of the violin (n.d.)

    Balestrieri, Tommaso, Mantua, 1720 to 1788. The opinions regarding Balestrieri differ greatly, some claiming he was a pupil of Pietro Guanerius …

    scan page 37, line 34See the scan

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    1. Bagnini, Orazio, Florence, 1661 to 1667.
    2. Baines, ——, London, 1780.
    3. Baker, John, Oxford, 1688 to 1720.
    4. Balestrieri, Tommaso, Mantua, 1720 to 1788. The opinions regarding Balestrieri differ greatly, some claiming he was a pupil of Pietro Guanerius while others claim he was a pupil of Stradivarius. This seems to be more correct, as Balestrieri took part in the last works of the great artist. His model is large, with a reddish-yellow or orange-yellow varnish, suggesting the Guadagnini instruments, and have improved, probably through age, greatly in beauty of tone. The label

  3. The Violinist's Guide: Written for the Use of the Violin Buying Public (1916)

    Balestrieri, Tommaso. Cremona, 1730-1770. Pupil of Antonio Stradivari. Instruments excellent in every respect except finish.

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    2. Anselmo, Pietro. Cremona, 1670-1710. Work Amati character but in many respects, especially in quality and appearance of varnish, resembles Francesco Ruggeri.
    4. Balestrieri, Tommaso. Cremona, 1730-1770. Pupil of Antonio Stradivari. Instruments excellent in every respect except finish.
    6. Bergonzi, Carlo. 1715-1747. Best pupil of Antonio Stradivari; studying during the Golden Period of master's life. One of the four great Cremonese makers and instruments prized next to Stradivari and Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu. Violins very scarce; fewer in existence than those of any other of great makers. Easier to secure one of his 'cellos than violins. Violins celebrated for beauty and remarkable tone; largely imitated, especially by the French.

  4. Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904)

    Balestrieri, Tommaso. — Mantua. 1720. 1772.

    scan page 52, line 15; scan page 54, line 10See the scans: 52, 54source record

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    scan page 52, line 15

    1. Pietro Balestrieri
    2. fece in Cremona 17..
    4. Balestrieri, Tommaso. — Mantua. 1720. 1772.
    5. Seiner Angabe nach stammt er aus Cremona und ist ein Meister, über den die Meinungen merkwürdig auseinandergehen. Während ihn die Einen nur als geschickten Dilettanten ansehen, machen Andere ihn zu dem einzigen Schüler des Pietro Guarneri, und wieder Andere, wie De Piccolellis und Vidal, weisen ihn der Schule Stradivaris zu. Das Letztere hat insoferne Berechtigung, als Balestrieri tatsächlich an die letzten Arbeiten des grossen Cremonesers anzuknüpfen scheint. Sein Modell ist gross und schön, die Arbeit nicht sehr gleichmässig, sein Lack ist von gelblichrother oder orangegelber Farbe, — man kann übrigens zwei bestimmte Lackarten bei ihm unterscheiden, von denen die eine an Guadagnini erinnert. Seine Geigen haben zweifellos durch das Alter sehr an Tonschönheit zugenommen, so dass es sich erklärt, dass sie jetzt wesentlich höher geschätzt werden als früher. Besonders sind seine Violoncelli gesucht. Er soll erst von 1757 an in Mantua nachweisbar sein und vorher in Cremona gelebt haben, mir sind jedoch nur Zettel aus Mantua bekannt geworden. Er verwendete verschiedene Zettel, darunter auch einen mit verziertem Rand, auf welchem der Text dreizeilig erscheint.
    7. Thomas Balestrieri Cremonensis

Named in 7 books printed between 1896 and 1925. Read by software from scans of those pages, not yet checked by a person against the page. Entries from 7 books stand under this name, and the software judged them likely the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record.

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Details and sources

Record note

If you can add to this record, we want to hear from you. As it stands, one or more sources name this maker and nothing else on this site confirms it: A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1896); An encyclopedia of the violin (1925); An encyclopedia of the violin (1925); An Encyclopedia of the Violin (1926); Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904); Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904); The Violinist’s Guide: Written for the Use of the Violin Buying Public (1916). Printed under this name in 6 different volumes and treated as one person on a station reading before merge; the volumes share no distinctive printed word, so whether they name one man is an open question on this record, for a person to settle. No claim beyond what those sources state is invented here, so not established is the honest word for it.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
Balestrieri, Tommaso. A maker in Cremona about 1720-57, then in Mantua till about 1772. Said to have been a pupil of Stradivari; there is a rough … reported1
Places and dates of work
Balestrieri, Tommaso. A maker in Cremona about 1720-57, then in Mantua till about 1772. Said to have been a pupil of Stradivari; there is a rough … reported1
Places and dates of work
Balestrieri (Balestieri), Tommaso, brother of Pietro. A maker in Cremona about 1720-57, then in Mantua till about 1772. Said to have been a pupil of Stradivari; … reported1
Places and dates of work
BALESTRIERI, TOMMASO, Mantua, 1720 to 1788. The opinions regarding Balestrieri differ greatly, some claiming he was a pupil of Pietro Guanerius … reported1
Places and dates of work
Balestrieri, Tommaso, Mantua, 1720 to 1788. The opinions regarding Balestrieri differ greatly, some claiming he was a pupil of Pietro Guanerius … reported1
Places and dates of work
Balestrieri, Tommaso, Mantua, 1720 to 1788. The opinions regarding Balestrieri differ greatly, some claiming he was a pupil of Pietro Guanerius … reported1
Places and dates of work
Balestrieri, Tommaso. — Mantua. 1720. 1772. reported1
Places and dates of work
Balestrieri, Tommaso. — Mantua. 1720. 1772. reported1
Places and dates of work
Balestrieri, Tommaso. Cremona, 1730-1770. Pupil of Antonio Stradivari. Instruments excellent in every respect except finish. reported view the page image1
Places and dates of work
As printed on this page: “BALESTRIERI, Tommaso, Mantua 1720—1772. Schüler von Antonio Stradivari. Machte gute, sehr viel verlangte Instrumente. Seine Violinen ermangeln der Feinheit, besitzen aber eine” reported1

How the pages were read

10 of the 10 lines here were read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words), not by a person looking at the page image. 3 of them rest on a section heading above a list of names, not on a trade word printed on their own line: “A DICTIONARY OF VIOLIN MAKERS.”, “VIOLIN MAKERS IN EUROPE”, “Old Italian Violin Makers”.

Notes

  1. Read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words, or a typed transcription), not by a person looking at the page image. ↩

The books behind this record

This record draws on 7 sources. Each is listed below with how it was read, because a claim read from a photo of the page is stronger than one read from machine text.

  1. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  2. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol1899stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol1899stai.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  3. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London ; New York: Novello, Ewer, 1896). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai_0. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai_0.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  4. Alberto Bachmann, An encyclopedia of the violin (1925). archive.org, encyclopediaofvi0000albe_h3k7. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofvi0000albe_h3k7.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  5. Bachmann, Alberto and Ysaye, Eugene, An encyclopedia of the violin (New York, Da Capo Press, n.d.). archive.org, encyclopediaofvi0000bach_r6r5. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofvi0000bach_r6r5.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  6. Alberto Bachmann, An Encyclopedia of the Violin (1925). archive.org, encyclopediaofvi0000albe_u1d5. https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofvi0000albe_u1d5.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  7. Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904). archive.org, bub_gb_cWCqAAAAIAAJ. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_cWCqAAAAIAAJ.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 52, line 15

  8. Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1904). archive.org, diegeigenundlau00vongoog. https://archive.org/details/diegeigenundlau00vongoog.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  9. The Violinist’s Guide: Written for the Use of the Violin Buying Public (Chicago: The Violinist Publishing Company, 1916), pp. 19–43. Google Books, zXQHAQAAMAAJ. https://books.google.com/books?id=zXQHAQAAMAAJ.Primaryread from the pagecited for 1 linesource record

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  10. Cremona. Eine Charakteristik der italienischen Geigenbauer und ihrer Instrumente (1919). archive.org, cremonaeinechara00nied. https://archive.org/details/cremonaeinechara00nied.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    p. 17