Top lots from June London and Vichy stringed instrument auctions

In contrast to the failed sealed-bid auctions in June of the ‘Kreutzer’ and ‘Macdonald’ Stradivaris, the regular sales that month in London and Vichy, France, achieved a good spread of respectable results.

Tarisio’s London offerings included a Nicolò Gagliano violin from 1759, an 1830 Pressenda violin and a Landolfi cello from 1766, which all sold for £190,000 or a shade either side. The top five lots attracted just six bids between them, whereas twelve bidders competed for a 2004 violin by German maker Stefan-Peter Greiner, which made £57,000 on an estimate of £25,000–£40,000.

The highlight at Brompton’s was a Joseph Guarneri ‘filius Andreae’ violin from c.1725 (pictured). Estimated at £150,000–£200,000, it fetched £168,000. Two 20th-century instruments made it into the top five: a 1963 Marino Capicchioni viola netted £42,000 and a violin by Ricardo Genovese from 1927 went for £38,400.

In France, Vichy Enchères’s mid-year sale featured a bumper 499 lots and cleared close to €2.5m. A Dominique Peccatte cello bow was the top-seller, smashing its €60,000–€70,000 estimate to make €136,400. Other highlights included a violin by Nicolò Gagliano and one by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, each of which brought in €79,360.

Vichy Enchères, Vichy, France, 12 June

1 Lot 250
A silver-mounted cello bow by Dominique Peccatte
Estimate €60,000–€70,000  Sale price €136,400

2= Lot 320
A violin by Nicolò Gagliano, Naples, c.1740–5
Estimate €60,000–€70,000  Sale price €79,360

2= Lot 275
A violin by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, Paris, 1867
Estimate €50,000–€60,000  Sale price €79,360

3 Lot 70
A late 18th- or early 19th-century Italian violin, after school of Mantegazza
Estimate €6,000–€8,000  Sale price €76,880

4 Lot 375
A violin by François-Louis Pique, Paris, c.1805–10
Estimate €45,000–€50,000  Sale price €55,800

Lots offered 499
Value of lots sold €2,422,464
Percentage sold 64.7%

Brompton’s, London, 23 June

1 Lot 125
A violin by Joseph Guarneri ‘filius Andreae’, Cremona, c.1725
Estimate £150,000–£200,000  Sale price £168,000

2 Lot 110
A violin by Tommaso Eberle, Naples, 1774
Estimate £50,000–£80,000  Sale price £57,600

3 Lot 175
A viola by Marino Cappichioni, Rimini, 1963
Estimate £25,000–£35,000  Sale price £42,000

4 Lot 236
A violin by Ricardo Genovese, Lecco, 1927
Estimate £30,000–£40,000  Sale price £38,400

5 Lot 27
A silver-mounted violin bow by Eugène Sartory, Paris
Estimate £12,000–£18,000  Sale price £19,200

Lots offered 340
Value of lots sold £816,747
Percentage sold 60%

Tarisio, London, 25 June

1 Lot 171
A violin by Nicolò Gagliano, Naples, 1759
Estimate £170,000–£250,000  Sale price £191,450

2 Lot 172
A violin by Giovanni Francesco Pressenda, Turin, 1830
Estimate £190,000–£250,000  Sale price £190,000

3 Lot 36
A cello by Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi, Milan, 1766
Estimate £150,000–£220,000  Sale price £189,000

4 Lot 170
A violin, ascribed to Nicolò Amati, probably by Hieronymus Amati II
Estimate £120,000–£180,000  Sale price £140,600

5 Lot 169
A violin by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, Paris, c.1845
Estimate £100,000–£150,000  Sale price £93,000

Lots offered 170
Value of lots sold £1,637,573
Percentage sold 76.5%

All sale prices include buyer’s premium.

Photo: c.1725 Guarneri ‘filius Andreae’ violin courtesy of Brompton’s

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