Labels of Giuseppe Guarneri, filius Andrea.
The earliest label of the master, so far found by us, is the one of the
year 1690, which is identical with that of 1696--a type used by him while
working in his father's workshop, i,e, prior to Andrea's death, and very
rarely met with.
We have never seen a label dating from 1699; and when we recall that the
father died in December 1698, also that Giuseppe had for some time been inserting
the name of Andrea in his own productions, we think it quite probable that
he only finally discarded this practice in the year 1700.
The second type is that dated 1702; note the change of the wording, the small
f of the Filius, the different spelling of "Teresie" and "Cremone";
the figures "17" only are printed, whereas in the previous label the last
figure only is added with a pen.
The next two specimens of the plate are both dated 1710, and very only in
small detail; for instance, "Andrea" is printed in the one case without the
diphthong, and "Teresie" has the long s of the Gothic type, in the
other the Latin s. Note also that the letter i and the figure
I are at times dotted, but not invariably so; furthermore the date of the
one label has 17 and the other 171 printed.
The exceptional feature of the fifth label is the group of figures entirely
printed. The sixth and seventh, of altogether bolder type, are found in both
violin and violoncello; see the curious addition of b to "Teresia"
and the three printed figures; in the last the printed I has been added to
by pen in order to form a 3. Cremona is once more spelt with a diphthong;
and it is interest to observe that the actual type of block from which these
labels were being printed are practically identical with those used by Andrea
during the later years of his life.
Labels Inserted By Giuseppe Guarneri Figlio D'Andrea
Information Abtained from Book Of
The Violin Makers Of The Guarneri Family ( 1626 - 1762 )
Written & researched By: William Henry Hill, Arthur F. Hill &
Alfred Ebsworth Hill