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1871 Fratelli Melegari Turin

$35,000

The following is from an excerpt on Violin Making in Turin by Violin Expert Philip J. Kass: “Both Guadagnini and Rinaldi employed others to work for them. The best known of these today are Enrico Marchetti (1855–1930), the Melegari brothers and Maurice Mermillot, a French luthier, native to the Savoie but trained in Mirecourt, who worked for Guadagnini for some years before returning to Paris and his own successful venture. The brothers Enrico (1835–1895) and Pietro (1842–1874) Melegari were natives of Parma who had studied woodworking and music in childhood but did not initially engage in violin making. During the 1860s they worked in the Arsenale in Genoa; these were the same years in which Enrico Rocca worked there, so it is not impossible that they knew one another. They supposedly worked for Antonio Guadagnini briefly before opening their own shop in 1870. Pietro died young and Enrico continued on his own, receiving plaudits at international competitions for his distinctive and idiosyncratic work. He died in 1895 without a successor. Melegari instruments are very recognizable for their curious small scrolls, their deep red to orange varnish of often very soft texture, and their unusual arching system, in which they are often left very thick along the strip running down the center. They are often branded with the maker’s name in capital letters. The violins and occasional viola and cello are mostly Enrico’s personal work, for although the early instruments have the Fratelli Melegari label, Pietro is believed to have engaged primarily in guitar making in the Guadagnini manner.” In his visit to Fine Fretted String Instruments in September 2018, Philip Kass said this was not a "Fratelli Melegari" violin, but made by someone else at the same time in the same region of Italy.

It is in pristine condition, all original varnish. LOB (length of back): 355 mm

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