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GIOVANNI BAPTISTA GUADAGNINI1776

DESCRIPTION AND MEASUREMENTS:ROGER HARGRAVE. PHOTOGRAPHS:

MICHAEL TOLLMANNBack Belly

In his classic work The Guadagnini Family of Mak-ers, Ernest Doring tells us the following about J. B.Guadagnini's Lachmann Schwechter violin: `. . . a vi-olin, in condition virtually as it left the maker'shands, with the original neck and inside blocks; theupper or neck block still intact with its three origi-nal hand forged nails . . . is in the possession of ErichLachmann. This specimen has thickly laid on varnishof a vivid orange red colour'

Although the violin still retains its original neck,it has been reshaped, blocked up at the root and tiltedback in the modern fashion Unfortunately, the neckblock and nails were removed fairly recently by `per-son or persons unknown'. Nevertheless, the condi-tion of this instrument allows us to observe the workof the master's Turin period without the usual diffi-culty of sorting out what is original from what hasbeen replaced or altered. The violin has clearly ben-efited from being a part of many collections ratherthan having had a working life with one demandingplayer after the other. Available data indicates thatthe violin passed from the collection of EmilHerrmann via a Roger Chittolini to Erich Lachmann,the owner of a famous collection of early musical in-struments. The next owner was a Chicago dealer, Mr.Schwechter who later sold the instrument to a Ger-man collection. After exchanging hands in Germanyseveral times it entered the collection of GeigenbauMachold in Bremen, West Germany.

Giovanni Baptista Guadagnini is regarded by manyas the next most illustrious maker of concert violinsafter Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesu' and AntonioStradivari, and not without reason. Guadagnini'slarge, flat but not

necessarily low arched violins, often modelledafter Stradivari, have a power and quality which canequal the best Cremonese work. This particular ex-ample was made during the period of Count Cozio diSalabue's patronage, and the influence of Stradivariis clearly to be seen, both inside and out. Guadagniniwould probably have been given the opportunity toexamine the materials of Stradivari's workshop, col-lected by Count Cozio and which now make up thegreater part of the Cremona Museum collection.

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The outline of the Lachmann Schwechter is boldwith strong corners, not unlike the character ofStradivari's late golden period (see the 'von Beck-erath Stradivarius shown in Walter Hamma's Meis-ter Italienischer Geigenbaukunst). The edgework isextremely flat, with almost no hollowing in the pur-fling channel the purfling itself is artistically wellfinished in spite of the uneven character of the indi-vidual strips of wood which vary in thickness and theknife cuts which can be seen at two or three pointsrunning out of the channel. It is interesting to noticethe break in the purfling beneath the button. This isa feature of Guadaginini's Turin period, so often de-stroyed by well meaning restorers throughout theyears. It should not be assumed that Guadagnini wassimply too lazy to bridge the gap; on the contrary heprobably observed a weakness at this point where thebutton often breaks away along the purfling channel.This theory is re enforced by the fact thatGuadagnini's edgework increases in thickness sud-denly as it approaches the button. On this particularinstrument the button is over 5.5 mm thick.

The quality of maple wood used by Guadagninivaries considerably from the finest to the plainest.This variation in the quality of materials and the ac-companying changes in varnish and working meth-ods caused earlier researchers to conclude that G. B.Guadagnini was two or even three different makers.For those who wish to pursue the development andfinal outcome of this argument, Doring provides theideal battlefield. His conclusions are reached by tak-ing the available evidence and balancing it againstthe most reasonable and logical possibilities. As a re-sult boring's work is the foundation for what has nowbecome the universally accepted fact that J. B.Guadagnini was a well travelled, single individual.

The wood used for the back and ribs of the Lach-mann Schwechter is of middling quality. It possessesa beautiful velvety flame of medium width but thecut runs from quarter sawn on the right side to slabcut on the left bouts. This has led to a slight distor-tion of the back arching; this probably became set-tled quite early in the life of the instrument. Thewood is of quick growth with wide annual rings andis more likely to have come from a lowland local Ital-ian tree rather than the mountain timber normallypreferred by the classical Cremonese makers. Theribs were almost certainly cut from the back andclearly show the marks of a toothed plane under-neath the varnish all round the instrument.

In common with most classical works the top rib is

in one piece, and, in this case, the bottom rib as well.In contrast to the back and ribs the head and neckare of fine growth with shallow figure. The head,again after Stradivari, is elegant and light in execu-tion.

The belly wood used by Guadagnini for his violinsis almost always of good quality and this instrumentis no exception. The central band of this two piecebelly is of extremely fine growth, becoming only a lit-tle wider towards the flanks. Once again the belly dis-plays much of the influence of Stradivari. The archinghas that fullness over the outside top curve of the fholes, a feature generally exaggerated by later copy-ists of Stradivari, especially the inferior French pro-ductions. Stradivari's influence is also present in thefholes themselves, particularly in their setting, andoverall size and shape. They do, however, retain thestrong personal stamp of Guadagnini, the nicks, forexample, being positioned below halfway. This wasalso a feature of Guadagnini's Parma period. The topand bottom holes have been clearly drilled out atright angles to the surface of the arching; in particu-lar, the bottom holes are round, not oval or pearshaped as is usual in Guadagnini's work. The wingsof the f holes are fluted, but they run out to the edgewithout scooping into the purfling channel which isalmost non existent even at this point. A few smallbut clearly defined scraper marks can be seen on thebelly here and there, but otherwise the work is ex-tremely neat and tidy.

On the head the volutes are cleanly finished untilthe last one and a half turns where the gouge marksbecome more obvious. Tool marks are also visible onthe vertical surface of the turns. The eye of the scrollis encircled by the prick marks (the remains of themarkingout process) which are so often a feature ofGuadagnini's work. A further glance at Hamma'sMeister Italienischer Geigenbaukunst will confirmthese pin pricks as a feature of the Guadagnini fam-ily in general.

The fluting of the scroll and pegbox is quite deep,with a roundish channel, rather than the flat bot-tomed curve of Stradivari's fluting. Long scrapermarks lightly trace along the back of the pegbox, butotherwise the fluting is very clean. The chin of thescroll is slightly square, and what remains of theblack lining can be seen on the chamfer, accentuatingthe lines of the head in the style of Stradivari.

The influence of Stradivari and his contemporariesappears inside the instrument as well. As the photo-graph of the block shows, the linings and blocks are

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of a white wood not unlike that used by Stradivari(see 7 Segreti' di Stradivari by Sacconi). The instru-ment was also quite obviously built around a mouldusing blocks of similar proportions to Stradivari. Thelinings are let into the blocks from the centre boutsonly, and are simply wedged into place at the top andbottom bouts. Interestingly, the top linings of theupper bouts taper towards the top block coincidingwith the taper of the ribs (see measurements). Thisseems to indicate that the ribs were tapered on thebelly only and that the taper began at the top cornerblocks. In general, and in common with other fineItalian makers, the work inside is efficient and solid,without being fussy.

For Giovanni Baptista Guadagnini's use of thestepped label it is perhaps worth quoting again fromErnest Doring's The Guadagnini Family of ViolinMakers: `we find the type set in a manner which per-mitted the ticket to be cut in graduated steps. Theform originated in Guadagnini's last years at Parma.A similar form was first used at Turin; reference toCremona continues, but the initial `P' under

the monogram is replaced with `T'. Having as-serted a Cremonese connection, the maker found itexpedient to renounce allegiance to Piacenza, there-fore the substitution of the `T' for `P' obviously pro-claimed Turin as the city of his residence'.

Finally we come to the varnish. It is a fiery orangered, over a golden ground. From the photographs itcan be seen that it is present in both quantity andquality, but its luminescence and intensity need to beseen on the violin itself to be believed fully. It is un-usual and at the same time a little untypical ofGuadagnini that it is almost tempting to imagine an-other hand at work. Perhaps to do so would be to fallinto the same trap as those who believed that the im-mense variations in the style of Guadagnini's workwere the result of two, three, or even more peopleworking under the same name.

The Lachmann Schwechter violin is pictured anddescribed in the following publications:

Walter Hamma: Meister Italienischer Geigen-baukunst (Herrsching am Ammersee, 1965)

Loan Exhibition of Stringed Instruments andows (New York, 1966)

Ernest N. Doring: The Guadagnini Family of ViolinMakers (Chicago, 1949)

Certificates include those from Emil Herrmann,Rudolph Wurlitzer, Erich Lachmann

Other references may be made to:

Simone F. Sacconi: 7 Segreti' di Stra