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Forum Newbie
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I have been playing for years on a great sounding instrument. It's been extensively restored (long before my time). It's not been identified as yet and I was hoping to get some insight here.
We suspectit's Italian. The late Josef Vedral (the Hague) even ventured to put "School of Ferrara" on the certificate.
Thelabel reads: Alexander Galiani. Fecit Neapoli 1710
The purfling is baleen and the f-holes are quite unique. Here are some pictures (sorry about the shadows):
some recent photographs
Any tips greatly appreciated.
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Enthusiast
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| Hey, I think you own a quite interesting violin. I am not a real specialist concerning Alessandro Gagliano instruments, but as far as I know he was trying many different styles of f-holes. You can also find interesting ones in the database here. He used a very good varnish on most of his instruments what make them sound very clear and distinct. In your case I would NOT play with a tailpiece like this on that violin (I would change, as wood normally has a better tonal quality than metal) .. but that is of course always a question of taste. If you are really interested in knowing what you have you could maybe go to a specialist (I dont know in which country you are situated). best wishes, pharus
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I live in the Netherlands.
And strangely enough I've just been reading that the early Dutch violin makers up to Le Febre almost all used whalebone purfling.
As to the tailpiece. I know...very ugly. I started using that when I played a lot of quartets for quick adjusting of the tuning.
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| Hey As for tuning you can also use 2 or even 4 tuners on the tailpiece, but with another tailpiece  A maker of Italy that used whalebone for some of his violins is Antonio Gragnani. Look e.g. http://cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=6165 etc. Another violin online with whale baleen is from Kaiser, but I dont think it is an instrument by him anyways (e.g. http://cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=6287) There are also Netherland makers that used whale baleen for their violins, that is right. If you come to London an interesting address for you might be Beare's. They know quite well about violin identification. Maybe there are also other users who will comment on that instrument. Best, pharus
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Forum Newbie
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| I'd already popped off an email to Beare's earlier today. I might be in london soon so I've asked if they would be willing to take a look.
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| Alessandro Gagliano does look like a pretty good bet to me. There might be a few clues in comparing scrolls with the database here. I'd be interested to hear what the experts say though.
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The scroll indeed looks very special to me, but it would not be the first violin where the scroll is not matching to the violin. Alessandro Gagliano might also be a weird bet as I do not know any instruments with baleen purfling. They are quite rare anyways, and there can always be a first one
The pictures are not available any more. I did not compare so far the rib's flames with the scroll's flames. Would be interesting to see if they match together.
If you know more about the origins just post here, would be interesting, I have to agree!
Best,
pharus
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I fixed the link to the pics. Sorry about that...
The scroll has indeed been reconstructed. The middle part (peg box) is certainly newer. I don't know about the top though.
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so I can tell you the scroll is surely not original to the violin (compare just the wood of the ribs to the wood of the scroll!)
thanks for re-opening
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| This violin looks very similar to Hendrick Jacobs in wood choice (both maple and spruce), varnish, purfling, but NOT the F holes. I think Amsterdam is the right locale. There are a number of people to whom it would be worth your while to show.
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