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Scan 60
The Hawley Collection of violins, 1904
6 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 38. See the scan on archive.org.
1THE HAWLEY COLLECTION OF VIOLINS
3The tone of the King Joseph may be said to be without a peer in the violin world. The tone possesses, to a greater degree than in any other violin which ever came under our observation, that peculiar Guarneri timbre which distinguish his violins from those of all other makers. In its incisive virility, thickness, breadth and brilliancy, and that subtle, appealing quality, partaking on one hand of the somber melancholy note of Brescia, and on the other of the infinite sweetness and purity of the Stradivari, it seems as if the last word in violin tone had been spoken. Some violins are especially adapted to interpret one style of music and some another, but the King in its all-embracing quality, depth, and breadth of tone, is heard to advantage in soft and whispering serenades, the gay strains of Bohemia, the dignified measures of Beethoven, or in the exalted prayers of the cathedral service. In concerted compositions filled with every emotion which genius can record and impart, the voice of this Guarneri, rising above the orchestra, never fails to fill the audience with breathless emotion. This unique example of Guarneri's art was secured by Mr. James Goding, an eminent patron of art and music, who lived in London in the first half of the last century. He obtained it from a noble family of Lombardy, Luigi Tarisio probably being the medium through whom the purchase was made. Mr. Goding's collection, which was one of the most celebrated collections of bow instruments ever formed, contained many of the rarest works of Cremona, and eventually represented a very large investment. After Mr. Goding's death, his heirs arranged to dispose of his priceless treasures. So on Friday, February 20, 1857, at two o'clock, occurred, "by order of the executors," the public sale by Messrs. Christie and Mansons, St. James Square, London, "of the celebrated collection of musical instruments of the late James Goding, Esq." The King (lot 379), with others of the violins, was sold to Mr. John Hart for the then unheard of sum of £260, by far the largest price paid for a single instrument at the sale. Mr. Hart sold it to a Mr. Appleby (presumably the poet), but in the course of a few years he repurchased it for the celebrated collection of Mr. Charles Plowdon, of London. While in the latter's possession, it was seen by one of the most eminent American collectors, Mr. John P. Waters, of Brooklyn, who was so impressed with its beauty that he expressed to Mr. John Hart his desire to secure it when opportunity offered. This did not occur until the death of Mr. Plowdon, when on August 30, 1868, the transaction which brought the King to America was consummated, the price having advanced to £350. Its advent into this country occasioned widespread comment.
5Data regarding the works of Cremona which were brought to this country in the early days are impossible to obtain. It is certain, however, that Italian violins of any kind were exceedingly rare in America, and that of the masterpieces of Cremona there was none, so far as we are able to learn. The wealthy planters of the South in the ante-bellum days seem to have been the only patrons of the violin and its music. It was considered the proper thing for their sons and daughters to be sent abroad, preferably to Paris, to secure the educational advantages which that city afforded. It is to them the credit is due of having brought home violins which were above the grade of the cheap fiddles of Saxony and Mirecourt, which up to that time filled the ideals of our fathers and grandfathers. This Stygian ignorance is not anything to feel ashamed of, however, when we remember that it was less than fifty
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