Grancino Violin: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This violin was made by Giovanni Grancino in Milan, Italy after 1710. This instrument was probably made after 1710 when Grancino frequently abandoned the practice of making violins of large body length (35.5 cm [14"] or larger). In compensation for length, bodies of the later instruments were usually of a broad model with archings reduced in height relative to earlier periods. The back of this example has a broader fuller arching than that of the table, a feature that would provide increased concentration of sound with the newly developed lower strings of gut wound with metal wire. This violin is made of a two-piece table of spruce with a beautifully even grain, narrowing at the flanks, back of two-piece maple cut on the quarter bearing very mild even medium descending figure, ribs of similar quarter cut maple with mild to faint figure, grafted maple neck terminating in a plain maple pegbox and scroll with deeply cut volutes and medium fine chamfer, and a transparent golden-yellow varnish.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1710-1730
• maker: Grancino, Giovanni
• Object Name: violin
• Physical Description: spruce (table material)
• Physical Description: maple (back material)
• Measurements: overall: 23 7/16 in x 7 7/8 in x 3 7/8 in; 59.53125 cm x 20.0025 cm x 9.8425 cm
• Place Made: Italy: Lombardy, Milan
• ID Number: 1984.0976.01
• catalog number: 1984.0976.01
• accession number: 1984.0976
• Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Laura E. Patrick
• 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.