Instrument

Iconography Index

"Alternating Voices", Michael Darnton, The Strad, January, 1987, 1987: Color photos (front & back).

"Guided Tour of the Library of Congress Collection of Stringed Instruments", Robert Bein, VSA Proceedings, Vol. XVII, No. 2 November 4-7, 1999, 1999: Black-and-white photos (front, back, side, scroll & f-hole).

"'Kreisler' Del Gesu 1733", Roger Hargrave, The Strad, May, 1988, 1988: Color photos (scroll).

"Learning from Guarneri", Sam Zygmuntowicz, VSA Proceedings, Vol. XV, No. 3, November 10-16, 1996, 1996: Black-and-white photos (back & f-holes).

"Poster supplement", The Strad, May, 1988, 1988: Color photos (front, back & side).

"Tour of the Stringed Instrument Collection of the Library of Congress", Albert Mell, VSA Proceedings, Vol. V, No. 2, Spring, 1979, 1979: Black-and-white photos (front, back & side).

36 Famous Italian Violins, Alex Wasinski, Herman Gordon, New York, 1975: Color photos (front & back).

Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú (2 volumes), Carlos Chiesa, John Dilworth, Roger Graham Hargrave, Stewart Pollens, Duane Rosengard & Eric Wen, Peter Biddulph, London, 1998: Color photos (front, back, side & scroll - large, high-resolution plates).

The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Black-and-white photos (front, back, side, scroll & f-hole - initialed by Emil Herrmann).

The Strad 2006 Calendar, Orpheus Publications, London, 2005: Color photos (front & back - April).

The Violin Book, Bafalon, London, 1999: Color photo (f-hole).

The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family, W. Henry, Arthur F. & Alfred E. Hill, William E. Hill & Sons, London, 1931: Color illustrations (front, back & side).

The Violin Masterpieces of Guarneri del Gesù, Peter Biddulph, Peter Biddulph, London, 1994: Color photos (front & back).

W. E. Hill & Sons Photographic Archive: Black-and-white photos (z52 - front & back).

Notes

"This instrument was part of the booty seized by British privateers when Junot's ship was captured and brought to Whitehaven in the Northwest of England. The vicar of Whitehaven bought the violin from one of the sailors for £2, and sold it to a collector, William Thomson, whose initials it still bears, branded in the scroll."

Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú (2 volumes), Carlos Chiesa, John Dilworth, Roger Graham Hargrave, Stewart Pollens, Duane Rosengard & Eric Wen, Peter Biddulph, London, 1998.

"We feel, and feel very strongly, that no specimen can exemplify del Gesu in his mature youth more strikingly than that dated 1733 (Kreisler), which conceivably was made some years previous to that year. It stands at the threshold of the master's emancipation from the past, the f-holes still reveal his indebtedness to Stradivari, but model and form are his own. Timid of conception, perhaps when contrasted with the audacity of later years, yet admirably typifying those closely knit examples which from the tonal point of view stand up to the greatest."

The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family, W. Henry, Arthur F. & Alfred E. Hill, William E. Hill & Sons, London, 1931.

Provenance

Owner	Owned From	Owned In	Owned Till	Price paid
Library of Congress	1952
Fritz Kreisler	1926		1952
W.E. Hill & Sons
Robert E. Brandt (Exeter)	1913			For members only
W.E. Hill & Sons			1913
John Mountford (London)	1875			For members only
Day
William Thompson
Vicar of Whitehaven
...
General Junot
...

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

Players

Name	Played From	Played In	Played To
...
Fritz Kreisler	1926		1952
...

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

Certificates

Letter: Alfred E. Hill, London, November 23, 1926. To Fritz Kreisler: "... it [the violin] was being transported with Marshall Junot's baggage from Bordeaux to Lisbon, ath the beginning of the XIX century, (the latter city being occupied by French troops under his command), when the vessel was captured by an English privateer & brought into Whitehaven, Cumberland. The violin passed into the hands of a sailor who sold it to the Parson of Whitehaven for L2. . . .

My father declared the violin to be the finest 'Guarneri' he had ever seen. I recognize it to be one of the few of the first rank."

Dendrochronological analysis: Peter Klein, Hamburg, 1998. Youngest ring is 1704.

References

36 Famous Italian Violins, Alex Wasinski, Herman Gordon, New York, 1975.

Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú (2 volumes), Carlos Chiesa, John Dilworth, Roger Graham Hargrave, Stewart Pollens, Duane Rosengard & Eric Wen, Peter Biddulph, London, 1998.

The Jacques Français Rare Violins, Inc. Photographic Archive and Business Records, 1844-1998, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C..

The Strad 2006 Calendar, Orpheus Publications, London, 2005.

The Violin Book, Bafalon, London, 1999.

The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family, W. Henry, Arthur F. & Alfred E. Hill, William E. Hill & Sons, London, 1931.

The Violin Masterpieces of Guarneri del Gesù, Peter Biddulph, Peter Biddulph, London, 1994.

W. E. Hill & Sons Photographic Archive.

W. E. Hill Business Records (1850 - 1990).

"Alternating Voices", Michael Darnton, The Strad, January, 1987, 1987.

"Guided Tour of the Library of Congress Collection of Stringed Instruments", Robert Bein, VSA Proceedings, Vol. XVII, No. 2 November 4-7, 1999, 1999.

"'Kreisler' Del Gesu 1733", Roger Hargrave, The Strad, May, 1988, 1988.

"Learning from Guarneri", Sam Zygmuntowicz, VSA Proceedings, Vol. XV, No. 3, November 10-16, 1996, 1996.

"Poster supplement", The Strad, May, 1988, 1988.

"Tour of the Stringed Instrument Collection of the Library of Congress", Albert Mell, VSA Proceedings, Vol. V, No. 2, Spring, 1979, 1979.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/guide/instru.html

http://www.peterbiddulph.com/buyingandselling.htm