A violin by
Tommaso Balestrieri

In 1920 W. E. Hill & Sons wrote of this Balestrieri violin that it was the best violin of the maker they had seen. So it’s not surprising that decades later it found its way into the extraordinary collection of Gerald Segelman. Segelman coveted the very finest stringed instruments and owned many of the greatest. By the time of his death in 1992 he had amassed the most significant collection of the 20th century.

The best violins of Balestrieri draw more influence from the makers of Cremona than his Mantuan predecessors. This Stradivari-like model with its flat arching, coupled with superior wood and plentiful varnish, make it one of the finest solo instruments, rivalled only by Balestrieri’s contemporary in Turin, G.B. Guadagnini.