Description
A fine Italian violin by Carlo Ferdinand Landolphi, circa 1760.
Carlo Ferdinand Landolphi, born in 1710, was a German violin maker who came to Milan probably under the influence of Paolo Antonio Testore in the 1730s. Very little is known of his early career, although some Germanic aspects can be seen in his work from throughout his career, combined with more advanced Italian ideas. His identifiable work, however, has more in common with Giovanni Baptista Guadagnini, than that of the early Milanese makers, following Guadagnini’s arrival in Milan in 1749 where he remained for a decade. Indeed there are several questions about the interaction between the two makers which make it unclear as to who was following who: Small-sized cellos with thin backs typify Guadagnini’s output, but there are a number of reasons for speculating that the concept arrived concurrently with Landolphi’s work, or perhaps that he got there first. Such speculations provide no firm conclusion except to reinforce the obvious connection that existed between either maker. He died in 1785, succeeded by his son, Pietro Antonio Landolphi, and by Pietro Mantegazza whom he also trained.
This violin is a very finely restored example made around 1760. The belly of the violin is a surprisingly precise reference to the earlier work of Jacob Stainer, with a flawless interpretation of the soundholes and the arching across the breast being precisely as one expects of a Stainer of 100 years earlier. It should be noted that in Stainer’s own work, the belly arching in turn takes its modelling closely from Amati, even when the back arching gives Stainer violins their distinctive characteristics, so it nevertheless fits well within the Italian style. The small scroll, though characteristic to Landolphi is of more Germanic proportions. There are a number of Guadagnini scrolls of this period that are remarkably similar in their characteristics. The back of the instrument is almost entirely Cremonese in its influence, with a remarkable proximity to Guarneri del Gesù’s work of the early 1740s period – the 1742 “Lord Wilton” being a well-known violin with some likeness. Landolphi earned the monicker of “the poor-man’s del Gesú” and this instrument demonstrates the legitimacy of that association to a very strong degree.
Certificate: Charles Beare
Condition notes: The instrument is priced to condition having undergone a recent expert restoration.
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