Instrument

  • ID: 1275
  • Type: violin
  • Maker: Antonio Stradivari
  • Year built: 1699
  • City: Cremona
  • Name: Lady Tennant; Lafont
 
Label: "Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1699"
Ribs: cut on the quarter of narrow curl
Table: of fine grain in the center, opening out to medium grain on the flanks
Body Length: 35.5 cm.
Back: One-piece cut on the slab of medium to narrow curl ascending slightly from left to right
Scroll: of fainter medium curl
Varnish: Golden-brown

Photos

Click on a thumbnail to view the full-size image.

  • front
  • back & side
  • front
  • side
  • back

Iconography Index

Black-and-white photos (front & back): "Three violins from Cremona", World of Strings, Fall, 1962, 1962.

Black-and-white photos (front, back & side): Italiaansche Vioolbouw, Max Möller, Max Möller N. V., Amsterdam, 1938.

Black-and-white photos (front, back & side): L'Esposizione di Liuteria Antica a Cremona nel 1937, Cremona.

Black-and-white photos (front, back & side): Mostra di Antonio Stradivari (Palazzo Borromeo - Isola Bella), Turris Editrice, Cremona, 1963.

Black-and-white photos (front, back & side): Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari 1644-1737, Herbert K. Goodkind, Larchmont, New York, 1972.

Color photos (front & back): "2007 Calendar", The Strad, October, 2006, 2006.

Color photos (front, back & scroll): Christie's Musical Instruments Auction Catalog, April 22, 2005, New York, Christie's, 2005.

Order Color photos (front, back & scroll): Four Centuries of Violin Making: Fine Instruments from the Sotheby's Archive, Tim Ingles & John Dilworth, Cozio Publishing, Boston, 2006.

Order Color photos (front, back & side): Sotheby's Highly Important Musical Instruments Auction Catalog, November 25, 1983, London, Sotheby's, London, 1983.


Notes

"When Hill delivered the violin to Miles' residence at 40 Grosvenor Square, he wrote a note, saying a buyer couldn't find an instrument in a more perfect state. "Such violins never come into the saleroom nor are they offered publicly in any way," he wrote. The fitted case in which the violin rests still carries an engraved lock plate with Lady Tennant's name and address."
"This violin truly has a rich sound", Kristina Goetz, The Indianapolis Star, May20, 2005.

Provenance

Owner Owned From Owned In Owned Till Price paid
Anonymous Stradivari Society Patron   2005       
...         
Anonymous  1981    2005   
Dr. Bernhard Sprengel (Hannover)  1944    1981   
Max Möller & Son (Amsterdam)  1925    1944   
Lady Tennant  1900    1925   
Sir Charles Tennant  1900    1900   
W.E. Hill & Sons      1900   
Charles Philippe Lafont       1839   
...         

Current owner Current owner
Indicates that the owner is or was also a musician Indicates that the owner is or was also a musician

Players

Name Played From Played In Played To
Xiang Gao     2007   
Yang Liu   2005     
...       
Ulf Hoelscher       
...       
Charles Philippe Lafont        
...       

Current player Current player
Indicates that the musician is or was also an owner of one or more instruments. Indicates that the musician is or was also an owner of one or more instruments

Auctions

Auction Date Note Estimate Hammer Price
Christie's, New York  Apr-22-2005    $800,000 - $1,200,000  For members only 
Sotheby's, London  Nov-25-1983      For members only 

Including buyer's premium
Current record for maker and instrument type
Record at time of sale for maker and instrument type

Certificates

Certificate: Bicentenario Stradivariano, Cremona, October 27, 1937

Certificate: Max Möller, Amsterdam, May 22, 1944

Certificate: W. E. Hill & Sons, London, March 20, 1900

Letter: Arthur F. Hill, London, March 17, 1900. To Lady Tennant: ". . . though you may see a Strad that you may be told is of a different period or more attractive, you cannot get one in the very perfect state that this instrument is. . ."

Dendrochronological analysis: John C. Topham, Redhill, February 6, 2003. States that the year rings positively match a number of other works by Stradivari. Of note are matches with a 1696 Stradivari viola, known as The Archinto, belonging to London's Royal Academy of Music as well as two other 1699 violins, one belonging to the Musée de la Musique in Paris, and a violin made in 1700.

Certificate: Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., New York

References

Antonio Stradivari: His Life & Work (1644-1737), W. Henry, Arthur F. & Alfred E. Hill, William E. Hill & Sons, London, 1902.

Christie's Musical Instruments Auction Catalog, April 22, 2005, New York, Christie's, 2005.

Order Four Centuries of Violin Making: Fine Instruments from the Sotheby's Archive, Tim Ingles & John Dilworth, Cozio Publishing, Boston, 2006.

Italiaansche Vioolbouw, Max Möller, Max Möller N. V., Amsterdam, 1938.

L'Esposizione di Liuteria Antica a Cremona nel 1937, Cremona.

Mostra di Antonio Stradivari (Palazzo Borromeo - Isola Bella), Turris Editrice, Cremona, 1963.

Order Sotheby's Highly Important Musical Instruments Auction Catalog, November 25, 1983, London, Sotheby's, London, 1983.

Violin Iconography of Antonio Stradivari 1644-1737, Herbert K. Goodkind, Larchmont, New York, 1972.

"2007 Calendar", The Strad, October, 2006, 2006.

"In Brief", The Strad, July, 2007, 2007.

"This violin truly has a rich sound", Kristina Goetz, The Indianapolis Star, May20, 2005.

"Three violins from Cremona", World of Strings, Fall, 1962, 1962.

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