Scan 170
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1875
2 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1to be valued highly. He appears to have made Joseph Guarnerius del Jesù his idol. Although his instruments cannot be considered as copies, yet there is evidence of his having made use of the salient points belonging to Guarnerius, which he fitted, as it were, to his own model. He had much of the disregard of mere appearance which Guarnerius so often displayed, and seems to have been guided by similar fancies. His freak was to place his sound-holes in all sorts of ways, scarcely twice alike. His outline is always vigorous, but without thought of symmetrical appearance. There is not an instrument of his make that could have been made upon a mould—they were built from the blocks, and the result, as may be expected, is not graceful. M. Vieuxtemps, some years ago, possessed himself of a Storioni Violin, now belonging to Mr. Proctor, and, having carefully regulated it, succeeded in bringing forth its great powers. His hearers were so delighted, that attention was at once directed to this neglected maker. These instruments are highly thought of in Italy. The varnish is not of the Cremonese description, but partakes of the Neapolitan character. The purfling is usually narrow and roughly worked; the scroll is stiff, and the same absence of finish observable. The material he used was invariably good in point of acoustical properties, though not handsome. Storioni does not appear to have made many Tenors or Violoncellos—the latter are rarely met with.
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