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Scan 101
The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904
17 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1CARLO BERGONZI. THE TARISIO BERGONZI
3invent new lines in violin architecture with which to command their attention and esteem, was no doubt the ambition of every up-to-date liutaro. We have seen how great was Guarneri's success and how his genius manifested itself in the remarkable violins which were leaving his shop at this time. Bergonzi, at first content to trust to his past association with Stradivari to bring to him a certain amount of patronage, was, after the death of that great master in 1737, compelled to look well to his laurels or to allow himself to be completely distanced by the superlative genius of the man on the corner of his street, who had that very year completed his chef-d'œuvre in the violin, now known as the King Joseph Guarneri. Bergonzi, therefore, was spurred on to do his utmost, and he responded nobly by originating a model which has received the homage of violinists and connoisseurs for nearly a century. The merits of his instruments were first appreciated in England some fifty years ago, and his price has risen accordingly ever since that time. The Bergonzi in the Hawley collection is known as the Tarisio. It belongs to the middle period of his work, as it bears the date of 1732. It was pronounced by Mr. Geo. Hart as "one of the finest of its kind." Its history is unique in as much as it was at one time in the possession of Tarisio, the most famous of fiddle-hunters, from whom M. Vuillaume, of Paris, got it. He afterwards sold it to Mr. Hart, who in turn sold it to that distinguished collector, Mr. John P. Waters, from whose possession it passed to Mr. Hawley.
5The Bergonzi known as the Falmouth, dated 1740, the property of Mr. D. J. Partello, is a very famous violin and in the highest state of preservation, and justly esteemed as the finest existing specimen of Bergonzi's work.
7Its measurements are as follows:
8 Length of body – – – – – – – 13 7/8 inches.
9 Width of upper bouts – – – – – 6 1/2 inches.
10 Width of lower bouts – – – – – 8 1/16 inches.
11 Width of sides at top – – – – – 1 3/16 inches.
12 Width of sides at bottom – – – – 1 1/4 inches.
14Carlo Bergonzi made many violoncellos and a number of double basses. A good example of the latter is said to be owned by Mr. Sears, of Boston. His 'cellos are of large size, and many have been cut down. Why Bergonzi should have departed from the standard measurements for the instrument adapted by Stradivari, we cannot understand. It is a departure which does not do credit to his judgment. His 'cellos are much appreciated by artists, and they are among the best of Cremona. Bergonzi, as has already been stated, occupied the house to the left of Stradivari, but in 1746, the year before his death, he moved into the house of his old master, where he had spent so many years of his life.
16Michael Angelo Bergonzi, son of Carlo, learned the trade with his father and was associated with him in business. At the time of the death of his father, he was working with him in the house of Stradivari. The work of Michael Angelo Bergonzi varies in quality. His best instruments in recent years have risen in price very materially, and now command as high figures as did his father's forty years ago. The varnish is usually of a reddish shade, not overly lustrous nor up to the best Cremonese traditions, but nevertheless of fine quality. His arching usually rises rather abruptly from the purfling; his pattern is large in some cases and small in others. His scroll
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