An exceptionally rare Guarneri violin – so legendary that it bears its own name, the Baltic – sold for $9.44 million (including premium) at auction on March 16, just shy of its $10 million estimate. The final sale price broke the auction record of $3.6 million for a Guarneri instrument (set in June 2022) to become the third highest price paid for any music instrument.
The Baltic was the featured lot in the online auction of more than 100 rare and important stringed instruments and bows at the Tarisio auction house in New York. A leader in rare violin sales, Tarisio raked in a total of over $11.1 million in sales, while 18 new auction records were set for various musical treasures.
“The Baltic is more than an exceptional instrument,” said Carlos Tomé, Director and Head of Sales at Tarisio. “It is a singular work of art.”
The Baltic was handcrafted around 1731 by master luthier Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, known as del Gesù, in the small town of Cremona, Italy. His stringed instruments and those of his family are among the most prized in the world, perhaps due to a deeper sound than other violins, attributed to the wood used, flamed maple.. Violinists Isaac Stern, Jascha Heifetz and Itzhak Perlman are among those who have performed on stage with Guarneri violins.
The volute and pegs of the Baltic violin. Courtesy of Tarisio.
Prior to the sale, the Baltic spent 50 years in the collection of the late Sau-Wing Lam, an American businessman and noted collector of rare musical instruments. Since acquiring the instrument in 1979, it has been exhibited twice at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, once in 1994 in an exhibition of exceptional Guarneri instruments, and again in 2012, when the museum hosted a series of exhibitions and concerts devoted to Lam’s collection. .
Before Sau-Wing Lam, the Baltic belonged to classical musician Dorotha Powers, who taught baseball legend Mickey Mantle the violin. She traded two Stradivarius violins to acquire the Guarneri from the Wurlitzer Company, American manufacturers of pianos and jukeboxes. Previously it belonged to a Baltic family, who were the first to call it Baltic – and the name stuck.
Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù was only 32 years old when he played the violin In 1731, breaking with the habits established by his grandfather, father and uncle. With its shorter body length, wider wings, and distinct axe-like gills, the Baltic is one of the first violins to bear the mark of del Gesù’s own style.
The more famous of the two luthiers, Antonio Stradivari was born in 1644, about half a century before del Gesù. Both makers practiced their craft in their hometown of Cremona, Italy. But while some 600 Stradivarius violins have survived, only around 150 Guarneri violins remain, making them a much rarer find.
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