Violin by Giuseppe Sgarbi, Finale Emilia, Italy, 1853

Where to start to describe such a stupendous violin? The level of sophistication in the choice of finest tonewood, personal model, unique arching, soundhole design, and of course the astounding inlaid decorations, lift this violin onto another artistic plane. I feel deference towards this violin, aware that much of its intricacies go way above my head. Just think of the time it took to imagine the inlay, draw it, cut it into ebony and the matching inner pieces of wood, and then insert it into the back with precisely the right

Detail of the lower back.

thickness and curve to fit the arch. I don't know how Giuseppe Sgarbi did it. A fascinating part of this violin is the different belly and back arching. Both have a high and full arch, but while the belly's rises gently from the middle bouts to a curved summit, the back's rises steeply and takes a tight turn onto a flat longitudinal central area. At the upper and lower bouts, the back slopes in full, round curves that fill the circles drawn by the inlay. It's the stylized three-dimensional sculpture of a woman's back. Following on this analogy, the varnish, beautifully integrated into the wood (as if it grew on it), looks like human skin of Italian tone. Letting one's mind wander, the decorations can evoke Italian lustrous hair, or black lace, or tattoos, or your wildest fantasy.

Decorations are reserved to areas hidden from public view.

The label translation reads, "GIUSEPPE SGARBI N.8 nicknamed Favino made in Finale di Modena his Motherland, on Year 1853."

I've been surprised at how little is known of Giuseppe Sgarbi's life and work. Reference authors appear to have been copying each other, concurring on the following:

• "preferred a flat model" (Lütgendorff, 1922)
• "nicknamed Jarino" (Vannes, 1951)
• "wood not always well chosen" (Hamma, 1964)
• "red-brown varnish" (Nicolini, 2008)
• "rather careless workmanship and design" (Dilworth, 2012).

Well, they certainly hadn't seen this violin, which displays precisely the opposite! From the label we learn that Sgarbi's nickname was "Favino." This is his 8th violin, not much for a 35-year-old maker exhibiting such skill. Perhaps he learned his craft late; or he was busy building violas, cellos and double basses;

or possibly he was slowed down by the Italian War of Independence. Actually, he uses this label as a patriotic claim, declaring allegiance to his hometown, "Finale di Modena sua Patria." In 1861, just eight years after this violin was made, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, and in 1863 the name of his hometown changed from "Finale di Modena" to "Finale Emilia."

The head, unfortunately, had to undergo major restoration. The only original parts I can identify for sure are the volutes and the pegbox interior upper half. Nevertheless, this is a most lovely Sgarbi scroll.

• "On the Borders of Greatness" on TheStrad.com by Lorenzo Frignani, The Strad, January 2020, vol. 131, no. 1557, illustrated on page 57. 
• The Cozio Archive on Tarisio.com, violin number 55596. 
• "Fine Musical Instruments" by Phillips Auctioneers, auction catalog, London, 13 November 2000, illustrated on page 34. 
• W. E. Hill & Sons Business Records, violin number B147.

• "Italian Violin Makers" by Walter Hamma, 1964, 8th edition by Messiah Enterprise, 2005, pages 512-514. 
• "Liuteria Italiana dell'Ottocento e del Novecento" by Umberto Azzolina, Casa Editrice Ceschina, Milano, 1964, page 46 & table 69. 
• "Liuteria Moderna in Emilia-Romagna" by Artemio Versari, Edizioni Il Salabue, Torino, 2002, pages 170-171 & 291. 
• "Conoscere la Liuteria - II Campania e Lazio" by Raffaella Lucci & Rodolfo Marchini, Edizioni Il Salabue, Torino, 2006, pages 108-111 & 243. 
• "Italian & French Violin Makers" by Jost Thöne, volume 3, Jost Thöne, Hachenburg, Germany, 2006, pages 79-86. 
• "Liuteria Italiana 1860-1960 - I Emilia Romagna" by Eric Blot, Eric Blot Edizioni, Cremona, second edition, 2003, page 260.
• "Giuseppe Sgarbi", The Strad, May 1948, vol. 59, no. 697, pages 6-7. 
• Brompton's Fine & Rare Instruments about Giuseppe Sgarbi. 
• The Cozio Archive about Giuseppe Sgarbi on Tarisio.com. 
• "The Brompton's Book of Violin and Bow Makers" on Amati.com by John Dilworth, Ed. John Milnes, London, 2012, page 555.
• Violin by Giuseppe Sgarbi, 1853, number 7, on InglesHayday.com. 
• Viola by Giuseppe Sgarbi, 1880, on BishopStrings.com. 
• Violin by Giuseppe Sgarbi, c.1885, on HarrisonFrankFoundation.com. 
• Violin by Giuseppe Sgarbi on Bromptons.co. 
• "Violinmakers in Italy - From the 19th Century to the Present" by Gualtiero Nicolini, Alberto Perdisa Editore, Bologna, 2008, page 824.
• "Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers" by William Henley, Amati Publishing Ltd, Tunbridge Wells, England, 1973, reprinted 1997, page 1060.
• "Die Geigen- und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart" on Archive.org by Willibald von Lütgendorff, volume 2, Frankfurter Verlags-Anstalt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, third edition, 1922, page 464.
• "Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers" by René Vannes, volume 1, Les Amis de la Musique, Brussels, second edition, 1951, page 331.