Connoissership at Oxford University.

For the academic world there are deep problems that arise from historic artefacts that are untethered from a record of provenance, and the violin is just such an object. How do we know if a Stradivari is genuine if we can’t trace its history all the way back to the maker’s hands? How do we confidently write about objects that have survived through history without a framework of assurance, and with an academic world that is more focussed on arguments that can be expressed through scholarly tradition, where does this leave the legitimacy of connoisseurship and expertise gained through observation, study and recall. Some years ago the Violin Society of America published a version of my blog “On the Arrogance of Experts” which addresses some of this. But today was more a show and tell of the things on my bench, from Elgar’s violin bow to a violin made by the artist George Romney, and a mystery viola that could be the remnants of an Andrea Amati. I was also super-pleased that a contignent from the Musical Instrument Making and Repair courses at Merton College (South London, not the alma mater of Liz Truss) gatecrashed the occasion, savoured the Oxford University champagne, and jammed on an Amati or two. Life as it should be!