Label: Antonio Pollusca / Romae 1741
Provenance: Kagan & Gaines, Chicago
Certificate: Joseph Peknik III, 1973,
Principal Department Technician at the Metropolitan Museum , New York

The place of honour of the list should be given to this violin, the very first baroque violin of the present collection, which I purchased right at the beginning of my university studies – 1969 – in Chicago, directly from Mr. Kagan (Kagan & Gaines).One encounters the following text in Lütgendorff:

“Dem Namen nach ein Böhme und auch seiner Arbeit nach mit der Prager Schule verwandt, wenn er auch unter Tecchlers Einfluß stand. Er ist nur wenig bekannt, gehörte aber jedenfalls zu den besseren römischen Geigenmacher seiner Zeit.”

Translation: “According to the name, a Bohemian maker; his work is related to the Prague School, although he stood under the influence of Tecchler. He is very little known, however he belongs to the better Roman violin makers of his time.”

The peg box and scroll betray his Roman heritage: they arose under the influence of the most significant masters of the city, David Tecchler. The sound holes remind one of the work of Francesco de Emiliani, a maker also active in the Eternal City.