GRANDJON.—Mirecourt; nineteenth century. A family of makers. Instruments of moderate price and better class “factory” style of work.
GROBLICZ, Martin.—Warsaw; eighteenth century. The name is commonly printed “Grobitz” in books dealing with the violin. Examples scarce. Pretty work of Stainer pattern. Sometimes seen with lion-heads. The name is found in more modern instruments of a very common type, and with edges flush with the sides, instead of overlapping them.
GROSSMAN, Dr. Max.—Born Berlin. Contemporary. Is chiefly known as originator of a system of attuning the backs and bellies of instruments. This has been applied to modern examples made in Germany and sold under the name of the “New Cremona” violins, etc.
GUADAGNINI.—Piacenza, Turin, Milan, Parma; eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. A very celebrated family originating at either Piacenza or Cremona. Lorenzo, the founder, claims in some of his tickets to have been a Cremonese. According to Hart and other writers, his dates run from about 1695 to 1740, or later. Much has been written about him, but in reality his genuine instruments are rarely seen in this country, and his work is imperfectly known, even amongst some of our better informed dealers. He also claims in some labels to have worked with Stradivari, but the veracity of the statement has been questioned time and again. The writer, during an experience of over thirty-five years, has seen very few authentic instruments by him. They are said to be of bolder design than those of his son Giovanni Battista, and the sound-holes are of varying form, sometimes resembling those of Guarneri del Gesù. All authorities are agreed as to the tone of his violins, which is described as large, and of excellent quality. He is supposed to have died at Milan. The most important maker of this family was Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, born apparently at Piacenza in 1711, died at Turin, September, 1786. He was Lorenzo’s son, and like him, states in some of the labels (those dating from Turin) that he was a Cremonese, and a pupil of Stradivari. Nearly all writers, British and continental, state that there were two G. B. Guadagninis, one of whom was Lorenzo’s brother, and of somewhat earlier date than the subject of this notice. The writer has seen a large number of instruments by G. B. Guadagnini of varying dates and places of origin, and is constrained to admit that violins dating from Milan and Parma present points of dissimilarity both in form, varnish, and the cutting of the scrolls, from those dating from Turin from about 1773 onwards. It is, however, the opinion of the best experts in this country, that there was but one G. B. Guadagnini, who changed his habitat several times. The facts of his life were collected by Count Cozio di Salabue, an Italian nobleman and collector, who died in 1824; he patronised Guadagnini and saved him in Turin from destitution. At the death of this distinguished amateur, something like fifty of Guadagnini’s instruments, with other valuable violins, were amongst his effects. Guadagnini seems to have worked first in Milan, then at Piacenza, later at Parma, where he was court maker to the duke, and lastly at Turin, to which city he migrated in 1772. There seems to be little doubt that he was acquainted with the composition of the celebrated Cremonese varnish, and used it, though comparatively infrequently, on some of his finest efforts. Some of his fiddles are models of good work, fine wood, and beautiful varnish, but his average instrument may fairly be described in less glowing terms. The varnish on most of those dating from Turin is a red, almost scarlet in some cases, of much brilliance, but less soft in texture than the true Cremonese. In earlier work the tints are less glaring, perhaps partly owing to the effect of time. The pattern resembles Stradivari’s. The sound-holes in many cases show rather a pronounced sweep in their upper turns. In a good many later examples, one is set a trifle higher than the other. The violins are generally rather under fourteen inches long, and the violoncellos almost always measure about twenty-eight inches or a trifle over. Very high prices have been paid in recent years for his best examples. The finest violin of his make ever seen by the writer, was sold by Mr. Hart about two years since for £800; and higher figures have been reached more recently still. Giuseppe Guadagnini (Joseph), circa 1736-1805. Was second son of the foregoing maker, and worked at Milan, Como, and Parma. Work heavier-looking than that of his father. The violins are apparently of somewhat larger pattern. The arching generally flat and the sound-holes broad in the stem. Seems to have made a good many instruments, including violas and violoncellos. The tone is frequently large and of good quality. It is said that he in many cases used the label of his father. Gaetano, another son of Giovanni Battista, worked at Turin to about 1831. He is said to have been chiefly a repairer. Writer has seen some violins (one or two of good workmanship and pattern, and prettily figured wood) bearing his label, but his work is very little known. Other members of the family, Francesco, Carlo, and Antonio, have been employed in the violin business. One Francesco was at work quite recently.
GUARINI.—Vide Mennesson.
GUARNERI.—Cremona, Mantua, Venice; seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The founder of this celebrated family was Andrea, born 1626 in Cremona; died there in December, 1698. An undoubted pupil of Niccolò Amati, by whom he was employed as late as 1653; he was at first a close imitator of his master. Later he altered the style of his work somewhat. It is stated in many books that he was fellow-workman with Stradivari, by whose style he became influenced. Dates certainly do not tend to confirm the statement. Stradivari was not born until 1644, and even if he was employed by Amati while Andrea Guarneri was in that maker’s workshop, there are instruments by Andrea in existence which were made before Stradivari could possibly be of an age to exert any influence, and which exhibit modifications in the pattern, form of sound-holes, and arching, showing clearly enough that the maker had begun to work on lines of his own. Occasionally, Andrea adopted the “Grand pattern” of Amati, and it is probable he assisted in the making of some of the violins of that type. One very beautiful violin, bearing his own label, is known to the writer, which might well pass for a Grand Amati. The sides of Andrea’s heads are usually more deeply grooved than those of Amati. Very few violas or violoncellos seem to be known. Messrs. Hill state that they have met with one of the latter of smaller dimensions than the usual violoncello of the period, but that other examples had been cut down from their original size. Joseph Guarneri, son of Andrea, was born in November, 1666, and appears to have been alive in 1738, but the date of death has not been ascertained. He worked for some time with his father. The beauty of the varnish on many of his violins has not been surpassed by any other maker. Some of his backs show a broad curl, others have wood of smaller figure, but considerable beauty. The pattern of his violins varies considerably, as also the amount of arching in the plates, which is commonly flatter in late than early specimens. Some examples show a long and somewhat stiff curve in the waist, or middle bouts; in others the curve is more pronounced, and resembles that seen in the instruments of his celebrated relative, Del Gesù. In the heads also a resemblance may now and then be traced, and the peg-box is somewhat cut in at the throat. The fiddles are usually about 137/8 inches long. The sound-holes set a trifle lower and nearer the edge of the instrument than is usual, and in certain examples the form of the sound-holes is very slightly pointed at the ends. This form is not seen in earlier specimens. His violas and violoncellos are scarce. A few fine examples of the latter are recognised. Pietro Giovanni Guarneri (“Peter of Mantua”), the eldest son of Andrea, was born in Cremona in February, 1655. Date of death not ascertained. He also employed most beautiful varnish of a deep orange, or red orange tint, and has left some charming examples of his work. The general style of his instruments belongs to the Amati school. Arching usually somewhat full, very fine scrolls, and sound-holes which are set almost perpendicularly, and very decidedly arched at their upper and lower turns. The fiddles usually of medium size, but larger examples are occasionally met with. A very fine violin dated 1686, with ornamental purfling, is figured by von Lütgendorff. The date when he went to Mantua does not seem to be known, and the writer is unable to find any satisfactory proof that he worked also in Venice, as has been frequently stated. Pietro Guarneri II. (“Peter of Venice”) was a son of Joseph, son of Andrea. He was born in Cremona in April, 1695, and appears to have worked in Venice until after 1760. In his labels, which have an ornamental border, he calls himself son of Joseph. He is stated to have worked for some time with his uncle, Peter of Mantua, in that city. The writer is not well acquainted with his instruments. Giuseppe Guarneri (“Joseph, del Gesù”) was born at Cremona in October, 1687. Date and place of death are unknown. The latest date seen in a violin is 1745. The correct birth date was ascertained by an Italian writer (de Piccolellis), and first published in 1886, notwithstanding which several subsequent writers have persisted in stating that the event took place in 1683, the date formerly supposed to be correct (on the authority of J. B. Vuillaume). According to Hart, whose view is generally followed by the best modern authorities, del Gesù’s probable instructor was his relative, Joseph, son of Andrea, and there are features in some of his work which certainly support this theory. The earliest date found in his admittedly genuine violins is said to be 1723. In that year he would be at least thirty-six years old, and no very satisfactory explanation of the absence of authentic specimens of earlier date seems to be forthcoming, unless we suppose that he did not begin to follow the art in which he was so conspicuously successful until pretty mature manhood. Horace Petherick, in 1906, published a book (illustrated) in which he claimed to have discovered that del Gesù’s master was Andrea Gisalberti of Parma (q.v.), a little-known maker of no great account. However, neither Mr. Petherick’s arguments, nor the examples by which he strove to support them, were seriously accepted by most judges of the first rank, and the difficulty may be said to be still unsolved. Neither violas nor violoncellos which can unhesitatingly be accepted as the work of del Gesù have come to light. Instruments of both types have from time to time been put forward as authentic, but have been rejected as spurious by all the best-informed authorities.
Much misapprehension—some at least of which may be traced to general and loosely worded descriptions in books—has existed in regard to the size of del Gesù’s larger violins. His more massive looking instruments give the impression of being of greater size than is found on careful measurement to be really the case. The widths are full, but the bodies measure only 137/8 inches, or a minute fraction over, in length, and, so far as the writer is aware, no properly verified exception to this rule has as yet appeared. A number of his earlier works are only 13¾ inches long, but nevertheless possess a volume of tone which is astonishing, considering the relatively small size of the instrument. It has been customary to classify his works into distinct types, varying with the period of their production. Though in the main a convenient system, the dates found in his violins do not by any means always square with it. Two illustrations of this will suffice. The “Hart” Joseph, now owned by the great artist Kreisler, is of the bold massive build which he is supposed to have adopted not earlier than 1740; but it dates, according to the label, from the year 1737. Paganini’s famous instrument (now in the museum at Genoa) is dated 1743, and the splendid example known as the “Le Duc” was made in 1745. Neither of these instruments exhibits the exceptional finish and elegance of form which may be seen in a few examples made between about 1734-38, yet each is a remarkable work of art, though dating from a period when his handiwork has been said to betray a lamentable falling off in design, workmanship, and varnish. There is no doubt that del Gesù did occasionally produce instruments which in some features, such as the form of the sound-holes, are uncompromisingly ugly; but, in the writer’s view, there are not sufficient data to assign these specimens to any particular period of his working life. His handsomest and most exquisitely finished violins seem to have been made approximately between the dates above stated, 1734-38. Instruments of this class are rare, but will in every way bear comparison with those of Stradivari. Three notable fiddles of this type may be mentioned: the D’Egville, dated 1735; the “King” Joseph (now in America), and the “Gillott,” both dated 1737. These, with perhaps a dozen others, are reckoned amongst connoisseurs as the most finely formed and finished specimens of this great master’s work. In early examples a distinct resemblance to the works of his cousin, Joseph, son of Andrea, is traceable, and instruments now properly assigned to that maker have pretty frequently been labelled and passed as the work of Del Gesù. The sound-holes of his violins exhibit much diversity of treatment both in the form and the angle at which they are placed, and it is evident that in the cutting of them he rarely had recourse to patterns, or templates. It is generally supposed that he revived the “pointed” form associated with the school of Brescia. In many cases there is little or no suspicion of a “point” visible, and in no case known to the writer is the peculiarity accentuated to the absurd extent exhibited in swarms of copies which may be met with. His arching varies considerably, but the rise of the plates from the edges to the centre is usually gradual. In the outline of his more robust type of instrument there is a resemblance to the violins of Maggini, but that maker’s large dimensions—his ordinary fiddle is about 14¼ to 14½ inches long—are never approached by del Gesù. His varnish is almost always of fine quality and Cremonese type. There are probably more yellow specimens to be seen than those of deeper shade, but on the latter its colouring and texture are admirable. Swarms of makers of all nationalities have imitated, or attempted to imitate, him; but the truth, as shown by experience, is that del Gesù’s work is very difficult to imitate successfully; far more so than that of Stradivari and many other noted makers. His eccentricities have been travestied to an extent which betrays the hand of the forger to all but the most inexperienced. The cutting of the scroll is nearly always a stumbling block, and perhaps ninety-nine out of every hundred copies are too big. This latter observation will generally be found to apply to the wonderfully clever imitations made by John Frederick Lott in the last century, a goodly number of which are still accepted as authentic “Josephs” by the uninitiated. In recent years he has been imitated (so far at least as external appearances go) with remarkable exactness, by a maker named Voller, whose skilful “facsimiles” of various classic makers at first puzzled numbers of observers by no means ill-acquainted with the characteristics of genuine Italian work. Amongst French copyists, J. B. Vuillaume, Pierre Silvestre, Remy, and Georges Chanot I., may be mentioned; but their instruments, though reproducing with more or less fidelity the form and peculiarities of del Gesù, are in the great majority of cases of larger dimensions than the originals. Italy has produced a number of followers, but, until quite recently, none seem to have succeeded in producing violins which by any stretch of imagination could be described as exact copies. Storioni and Carlo Bergonzi, and occasionally Testore, made fiddles which for years were accepted by the multitude as genuine “Josephs,” but nowadays few if any of them would pass as such amongst judges of any experience. As may be supposed, the number of this celebrated maker’s authentic works is very much less than that of Stradivari, whose labels date from about 1665-6 to 1737, the year of his death. It is much to be deplored that the repeated attempts to obtain reliable details of del Gesù’s life story have produced such meagre and disappointing results, but the prospect of fresh information coming to light seems to be remote.
GUERSAN, Louis.—Paris; eighteenth century to about 1770. Worked first with Claude Pierray. There are some good violins and other instruments bearing his name. His personal work, though by no means scarce, is not so plentiful as is sometimes supposed. He came of a family of makers, and his pattern and style were followed by other makers. Red or yellow varnish, sometimes handsome and brilliant. Sound-holes not very wide open. Heads cleanly cut. The arching varies a good deal. Pattern looks rather narrow; probably more so than it actually is. He used a variety of labels, one having a shield bearing his name.
GÜTTER. A whole tribe of makers of this name worked in Markneukirchen and elsewhere in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Upwards of a score of them are mentioned by the German writer, von Lütgendorff.
GUGGEMOS, Marcus.—Füssen; eighteenth century. High built fiddles with brown varnish, and ornamental labels. Füssen has produced makers whose style and varnish are not unlike Italian, but Guggemos can hardly be reckoned amongst them.