Bow & Bridge Violin and bow makers, as the old books printed them

Scan 199

Violin tone and violin makers, 1916

4 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 177. See the scan on archive.org.

1of some of the violins of that type. One very beautiful violin, bearing his own label, is known to the writer, which might well pass for a Grand Amati. The sides of Andrea's heads are usually more deeply grooved than those of Amati. Very few violas or violoncellos seem to be known. Messrs. Hill state that they have met with one of the latter of smaller dimensions than the usual violoncello of the period, but that other examples had been cut down from their original size.
3JOSEPH GUARNERI, son of ANDREA, was born in November, 1666, and appears to have been alive in 1738, but the date of death has not been ascertained. He worked for some time with his father. The beauty of the varnish on many of his violins has not been surpassed by any other maker. Some of his backs show a broad curl, others have wood of smaller figure, but considerable beauty. The pattern of his violins varies considerably, as also the amount of arching in the plates, which is commonly flatter in late than early specimens. Some examples show a long and somewhat stiff curve in the waist, or middle bouts; in others the curve is more pronounced, and resembles that seen in the instruments of his celebrated relative, Del Gesù. In the heads also a resemblance may now and then be traced, and the peg-box is somewhat cut in at the throat. The fiddles are usually about 13 7/8 inches long. The sound-holes set a trifle lower and nearer the edge of the instrument than is usual, and in certain examples the form of the sound-holes is very slightly pointed at the ends. This form is not seen in earlier specimens. His violas and violoncellos are scarce. A few fine examples of the latter are recognised. Pietro Giovanni Guarneri ("Peter of Mantua"), the eldest son of Andrea, was born in Cremona in February, 1655. Date of death not

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