Dmitry Gindin: Expert and consultant in fine stringed instruments

  

The Last of the Guadagninis

When Antonio Guadagnini died, his sons Francesco (1863-1948) and Giuseppe II (1866-c. 1903), were 18 and 15 respectively. The brothers inherited the Guadagnini shop as teens, along with their father's business acumen. They also were to produce plucked instruments, in addition to restoring and dealing. Francesco did not take his inheritance lightly and throughout his productive career did his best to maintain the family's violin-making standards and traditions show the similarity of his label to his father's). Like most of his predecessors, Francesco had a good knowledge of violin making, as the more obscure Giuseppe II did as well. Early in his career, Francesco collaborated with Giuseppe; one encounters, on rare occasion, instruments of various grades labelled 'Guadagnini Brothers, Francesco and Giuseppe, sons of the late Antonio'.

Like Enrico Marchetti, the Guadagnini brothers exhibited instruments both nationally and internationally, starting in 1884, when they received a silver medal at the Turin Universal Exhibition. In 1885 they exhibited two guitars and a string quartet in Antwerp, and in 1892 Francesco won a gold medal in the Vienna Exhibition.