The "Sauret" Guarneri del Gesù of 1740-1744

Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri was the son of Giuseppe Giovanni Battista. He is known as Joseph Guarnerius del Gesù. He lived and worked in Cremona, Italy. He was born in 1698 and died in 1744. Stradivari and Guarnerius are ranked as the greatest violin makers. The "Sauret" del Gesù is an exceptional violin from the hands of a great master. A beautifully figured back of two pieces is joined with the flames ascending from the edges toward the center joint. The workmanship and style exhibits the individuality of approach similar to other great del Gesù violins from his later period. The instrument is named for violinist Emile Sauret who was said to prefer it to his Stradivari of 1684. After Sauret’s death in 1920, the violin passed to John P. Sheridan. In 1931 the Hills recorded Ralph H. Norton as the owner. The violin appeared in the Stradivari Bicentenary Exhibition of 1937 where it was cataloged as from the year 1744, however the Hill book lists it from the year 1740. Itzhak Perlman acquired the "Sauret" del Gesù in 1986 from Howard Gottleib. This is not the first time the "Soil" and a fine del Gesù have shared the home of the same owner or virtuoso. The Hills mention M. Soil in connection with a del Gesù violin of 1736. Lord Menuhin owned both the "Lord Wilton" del Gesù and the "Soil" Stradivari from 1978 until 1986. In 1994, Mr. Perlman graciously lent the instrument for exhibition in "The Violin Masterpieces of Guarneri del Gesù" held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Contributed by Jeffrey Holmes. We are indeed indebted to Mr. Perlmanfor both his generosity in sharing these wonderful instruments with the public through exhibition and for the glorious and inspiring music he produces with them. The "Sauret" is illustrated in the program booklet The Violin Masterpieces ofGuarneri del Gesù, An Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Commemoratingthe 250th Anniversary of the Makers Death, Peter Biddulph (London 1994) And in the exciting new book 25 Masterpieces by Guarneri del Gesù, Peter Biddulph 1999. Hill, W. H., A. F. and A. E., The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family, W. E.Hill & Sons, London 1931; reprinted by Dover Books, New York, 1991.

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