Gagliano Violin: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This violin was made by Ferdinand Gagliano in Naples, Italy around 1780. The violin retains its original, but reset neck. It bears a facsimile Gagliano label inserted by violin maker and restorer, Simone Saconi, in 1961. Ferdinand Gagliano built this instrument in a diminutive “7/8” size, probably like many other small instruments of the 18th century. The violin has an unusually large sound and in the 1950s it was frequently loaned by Rembert Wurlitzer (the New York authority and dealer) for important solo performances by young artists in New York City. Many students of Ivan Galamian played this violin in concert during their youth. The violin is made of a two-piece table of spruce, back of maple in one piece with faint horizontal figure prominent on the right side, ribs of similar maple, an original plain maple neck, pegbox and scroll, and golden orange varnish.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1778-1782
• maker: Gagliano, Ferdinand
• Object Name: violin
• Physical Description: spruce (table material)
• Physical Description: maple (back material)
• Measurements: overall: 23 in x 7 7/8 in x 3 7/8 in; 58.42 cm x 20.0025 cm x 9.8425 cm
• Place Made: Italy: Campania, Naples
• ID Number: 1979.0172.01
• accession number: 1979.0172
• catalog number: 1979.0172.01
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.