A violin by
Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù

The known history of this violin begins in the mid-19th century at which time it was owned by one of the most renowned collectors of the day, James Goding (d. 1856). Goding was a wine and brandy merchant who owned the Lion Brewery. His collection consisted of the very finest examples of Stradivari, del Gesu and Amati violins. At one time he owned twelve Stradivari violins and almost as many Guarneris, all of the highest quality. In 1851 he was introduced by the London dealer, John Hart, to Luigi Tarisio who visited his home in England. To Goding’s great surprise Tarisio identified every instrument in Goding’s collection from across the room. He didn’t realize that most of his instruments had originally come from Tarisio himself. After his death his instruments were sold at the Christie’s sale of February 20, 1857.

The violin was then purchased by another avid collector, Joseph Gillott (1799-1872). Originally from Sheffield in the north of England, Gillott made a fortune with the invention and manufacture of the steel pen. By the early 1850s, within just a few years of starting his collection, he owned more Italian instruments than any single person ever had. His factory in Birmingham was also the storage place for the instruments he acquired and it was here that George Hart went in order to catalog them upon Gillott’s death. Despite the astonishing number of fine instruments he’d amassed the collection represented just a small fraction of his art work. The Christies Gillott Sale in April 1872 netted over £164,500 for the 514 lots of paintings and drawings and £4,195 for the violins.

The next owner, whose name is now ascribed to the violin, was the novelist and amateur violinist Charles Reade (1814-1884). He was very likely the one who purchased the violin directly from the Christie’s auction (Lot 52) for £105. Reade was a prolific writer and one of the most popular, and certainly highest paid novelists of the 19th century. His writing constantly attacked the social injustices of the day. To the violin world he is known as the author of four letters to the Pall Mall Gazette in 1872 which he titled “A Lost Art Revived”. It is a commentary on the large exhibition of musical instruments that was taking place in the South Kensington Museum in that year.

Within a month of Reade’s death Hart & Son sold his del Gesu to Mr. W. Jacoby. The original certificate dated May 10th 1884 has since been lost but its wording was reprinted in the April 1898 edition of the Violin Times. By this time the violin had already been acquired by Richard Bennett and sold on his behalf by W.E. Hill & Son. Richard Bennett of Southport, Lancashire (1848-1930) was a very important and long-standing client of the Hills and unquestionably the most significant collector of great Cremonese instruments in the early 20th century.

In March 1893 W.E. Hill & Sons sold the del Gesu for £450 to James Watts, a collector living in Manchester. From him the violin passed to his friend J. C. Chapman from whose heirs it was eventually reacquired by W.E. Hill & Sons. In 1931, at the time of their historic publication “The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family” the violin was owned by Elizabeth Chapman.

The violin was again sold by the Hills to Mr. E. Flury who most likely was the person responsible for the loss of the original documents. W.E. Hill & Sons reissued their certificate in November 1949.

In 1951 the violin was purchased through Henry Werro of Bern by the renowned Austrian-born violinist and teacher, Max Rostal (1905-1991). Rostal had been a student of Carl Flesch in Berlin and was a champion of contemporary music. He was particularly known for his performances of Bartok’s 2nd violin concerto. His pupils included Norbert Brainin, Sergiu Luca, Yfrah Neaman, Igor Ozim and Edith Peinemann.

The violin was sold by J. & A. Beare in the mid-1980s and personally reacquired by Charles Beare in 2003. Since that time the violin has been periodically loaned to musicians, most recently for a couple of years to Salvatore Accardo.

The violin was sold by Rare Violins of New York in 2017, and has been on loan to violinist Akiko Suwanai.