Richard Tobin, London, c.1820

Description

An extremely fine London violin by Richard Tobin, circa 1820

Richard Tobin (b.1766, d.1843) initially worked for Perry & Wilkinson in Dublin where he encountered Vincenzo Panormo around 1797-1800. He moved to Cork, and ultimately on Panormo’s recommendation to London around 1810. Here he seems to have worked for Henry Lockey Hill, at least a violin inscribed ‘R. Tobin for L. Hill’ is dated 1817, but the close relationship between the Panormo family, Henry Lockey Hill, and Tobin and their strong associations with the firm of John Betts are reinforced by these interactions. Tobin’s extraordinary ability lies in scroll carving, and this is quite as fine an exemplar of his work as you are likely to see, typically following a Stradivari model of the 1670-80s period, and perfectly understanding the three-dimensional form. The body of the instrument is, except in very tiny details is completely at the level of Joseph Panormo, the red varnish perhaps serving as a significant point of differentiation between the two makers. Interestingly this is made in a period that another Panormo son, Louis was heavily promoting Neapolitan Opera Buffa in London, reinforcing that family’s Naples connections, and a number of Panormo instruments consciously look to the Gagliano family for their model. Here Tobin’s model is closer to the Panormo-Nicolo Gagliano model than the Stradivarian and Amati models that he followed at other times of his career. Like Henry Lockey Hill there are profoundly good reasons why his work can be sometimes mistaken for Panormo.