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Scan 170
The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904
24 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 96. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1THE HAWLEY COLLECTION OF VIOLINS
3Carcassi and Others
5Tomaso and Lorenzo Carcassi were contemporaries of Gabrielli. Of the two the work of Tomaso is perhaps better known than Lorenzo's, although not because it is necessarily better. Their violins differ widely, some are excellently made and are constructed of splendid wood, covered with varnish that is soft in texture and rich in appearance. Among the makers of Italy the work of both Gabrielli and Carcassi is ranked as good third class. Nicola Gusetto worked about the same time. Others with whose work we are not acquainted are G. B. Berincetti, Pietro Casteliani in the latter part of the eighteenth, and Giovanni Pazzini, who worked in the middle part of the preceding century.
7Modena
9In Modena flourished Antonio Casini in the latter part of the seventeenth century. His work resembles that of Francesco Ruggeri. He employed a superior model and varnish of a brownish red color of the choicest description. In his arching he escaped the propensity of Francesco Ruggeri to ridge his model in the center. He selected wood of the finest kind and finished his work with great care and artistic skill. Casini does not seem to have been a prolific workman, as his instruments are rare. It is unfortunate, for a maker of his skill could ill be spared even in Italy. His best work ranks with the majority of second class regarding Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri, and Bergonzi in the first class by themselves.
11Gianbattista Abbati, 1775-1800, is said to have been a careful workman and to have made many excellent 'cellos and basses.
13Modena was in the sixteenth century the home of a number of viol and lute makers, and in the eighteenth century of a large number of makers who employed their time wholly with double basses and 'cellos. There are records of violin-making in numberless other cities from Treviso in the north to Palermo in the south of Italy. In many instances instruments of great merit were produced.
15Genoa
17In Genoa Bernardo Calcagno flourished in the middle part of the eighteenth century. He was an excellent maker. He used good wood, an orange yellow varnish of good quality and had a robust, vigorous style. Jacopo Filippo Cordano was also a Genoese and worked very much in the style of Calcagno. His instruments have good tone.
19Leghorn
21Antonio Gragnani, who worked in Leghorn in the middle and latter part of the eighteenth century, was a careful maker and finished his work with good taste. He worked after the style of the grand pattern of Nicola Amati and Stradivari, used a pale colored varnish, and as a rule branded his work with his initials, below the endpin.
23Antonio Mariani takes us back once more to the style of the early Brescian makers, the character of his work being much like that of Gasparo da Salò and Mag-
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