"King Joseph 1737 "copy

The “King Joseph” was brought from Italy by the English collector James Goding. Through Hart took it to America, possibly it is he first Guarneri to cross the Atlantic.

The 1737violin was untitled when it came into the possession of Hawley in 1876, and was given the name “King Joseph” by Havemeyer in New York.

The “King Joseph” is unusual in having a back of slab-cur wood, but del Gesu would seem to have acquired a particularly fine plank around 1735 and made several instruments from it, including the “Sennhauser” and “Katherine Parlow” of 1735, the “Pollitzer-Koessler” of 1736 and the “Stern, ex Panette” of 1737. The front is also made from the same log as that of the “Stern”, connecting the two instruments rather more closely than frist impressions might suggest. The “King Joseph” is singled out by the Hills for special praise and is on their list of the nine finest Guarneris in existence. Certainly in construction it is most impressive, the workmanship more disciplined than that of the “Joachim” and “Stern” of the same year. The majestic presence of the violin is in some part due to the enlarged outline. The scroll is a fine example of the elder Giusppe’s style. At last, David Fulton bought it from Bein & Fushi.Inc.