I bought this from the estate sale of an old Italian guy who purchased this instrument, along with several others, in 1947. He died in 1967 and these just sat collecting dust for the past 50 + years on a book shelf in his home until recently his family was cleaning out and decided to sell them off. I know only that it is labled as #6 in his collection. It is in remarkable condition. I can only find a few small repairs to the ribs, and one to the back near the neck. I see no repairs or evidence of repairs anywhere in the sound-post or bass-bar areas, or anywhere else on either of the tables. The inner workings are of the highest class, as are the outer workings. The internal linings and blocks are of willow or something very similar to willow in appearance, as it is very dark wood with an indistinguishable grain. I measured the thicknesses of the plates with a hacklinger gauge, and they are very healthy. It does not appear to have every have been \"gouged out\" by anyone in the course of its lifetime. The back is healthy and strong as is the top and the ribs are of the proper thicknesses too. This violin is stable, solid, and playable in the condition it is in, but if someone wanted to make a real collection piece out of it, it would need a small to moderate amount of restoration done to it, nothing major and no major issues whatsoever. But, I am selling as is for playing, for parts, for collection. for restoration, or for whatever else you see fit to doing with it, so, please see the photos and offer accordingly. Thank you and please let me know if you have any questions.
P.s. The label is very old and says \"Giovanni Paolo Maginni...Bresica...\" and the other stuff it should say and then a date which I cannot read...not for lack of trying... The length of the back looks to be 362-363 mm. Thanks.
**International Shipping will be the actual cost of shipping including the insurance...thanks.
On Feb-06-16 at 16:12:25 PST, seller added the following information:
P.s.s. The picture of the top was taken under different lighting than the rest of the pictures, so the darkness might look different. The varnish is the same on the top as on the rest of the violin, it is all just lighting. Depending on the lighting when the picture is taken, it looks either lighter or darker, here is a photo of the back taken under the same lighting as the picture of the front: varnish looks all original on this one. A very high quality oil type varnish of some sort...
On Feb-07-16 at 14:07:12 PST, seller added the following information:
P.s.I purchased it from the estate sale of Mario A. Porazzi. He lived on Wall Street in New York back in 1947. He was a student of Joseph Allegro who was a friend and collegue of Ferdinand Carri, founder of The New York Institute for Violin Playing, Piano and Vocal Culture. He was the author of Special Scales Study that was lauded when published. The violin was purchased from R.N. Chittolini, Inc., Rare Old Violins, February 19, 1947. He later passed away in 1967, leaving the collection to collect dust until recently when the family members decided to start selling his things off. I have copies of the original receipts... On the original receipt from Chittolini, it says, \"Old violin, Brescian School, Maggini, Latter Part of 18th Century.\"
On Feb-07-16 at 14:33:47 PST, seller added the following information:
P.s.s. Apparently, Rodger N. Chittolini was a well-know collector and violin dealer in New York City back in that era, as I have found his name coming up quite a bit in Tarisio, Christies, Skinner, and Sotheby\'s archives as being the previous owner of many of the fine violins they have sold... Here is just one of the archive pages from Tarisio showing the many istruments belonging to this man they have sold at sale:
