1670

A whole long life’s experience is mirrored in this contralto viola – possibly the last instrument of this type to have been made by Stradivari in his nineties. The superlative craftmanship and its tonal beauty offer more than adequate proof of the creativity the master retained into old age. The first owner of this viola was the steel spring manufacturer Joseph Gillott of Birmingham (1799–1872), a musical instrument collector, amateur musician and friend and patron of the English painter William Turner (1775–1851).

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After his death on 29 April 1872, Gillott’s collection of 153 instruments was auctioned at Christies. At this sale, George Hart (1833–1897), a violin maker and dealer in musical instruments of the company Hart & Sons in third generation, won the bid for the Gibson viola. In 1873 the viola was acquired by Edouard Maria Heincque, Marquis de Saint-Senoch (1826–1885) for his Stradivari Quartet. The Marquis, an offspring of old aristocracy, possessor of a chateau in Varennes, had been a magistrate at the Court of Auditors and a member of the Legion of Honour.

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The quartet already possessed several Stradivarius instruments: the “Chant du Cygne”, a violin of 1737 – the last to have been made by the master, the “Saint Senoch Murray”, a violin of 1698, as well as the “Saint Senoch” cello also from the same year. After the death of the Marquis the quartet was disbanded and, on 15 May 1886, at an auction at Drouots, the French dealers Gand & Bernadel won the bid for the viola.

In 1891, when the instrument came up for sale at the London auction house Hill, the wealthy Bremen merchant of cotton, textiles and textile machinery, Johann Ludwig Baron von Knoop (1821–1894) bought it. Von Knoop, who had been raised to the rank of baron by Tsar Alexander II, was one of the richest men of his time; his passion was collecting valuable violins. On von Knoop’s death George Alfred Gibson (1849–924) bought the viola, whereupon it was named after him. Gibson was also the possessor of several famous violins, one of which was played by the celebrated Bronislav Hubermann.

From Gibson’s estate, the viola passed to a Scottish captain and amateur musician named Galashiels Murray who added it to his Stradivari string quartet. Murray kept the instrument for only two years after which the complete set of four instruments was sold to Rembert Wurlitzer (1904–1963). Wurlitzer, heir to a German dynasty of instrument makers dating back to the middle of the 19th century, was famous for founding the largest violin making house in history. Hundreds of Stradivaris and other prestigious instruments passed through his workshop.

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In 1929 the German violin maker and musical instrument dealer Fridolin Hamma (1881–1969) from Stuttgart bought the “Gibson”. It is described in his book, Masterpieces in the Art of Italian Violin Making published in 1931. The instrument was sold in 1936 to the collector Dr. Hans Kühne from Cologne, who kept it for two years before selling it in 1938, to the dealers Albert Caressa from Paris (1866–1939) and Emil Herrmann (1888–1968).

They had trans­ ferred their business from Berlin to New York before the war. After Caressa‘s death, William Hymanson, a member of the New York Musical Art Quartet played the viola. In 1945 Robert W. Bliss, an American collector, acquired the “Gibson”, selling it ten years later to Samuel L. Crocker (1888–1963) of Los Angeles. Crocker added it to his quartet which already possessed the violins “Villefranche” from 1729, the “Gabriel Starck” from 1717 as well as the “Suggia” cello from 1717. In 1964 the viola became part of our foundation. The “Gibson” together with the “Gustav Mahler” form a brilliant cornerstone of the foundation.

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The instrument is currently played by Marie Chilemme.