Stradivarius Violin: "The Ole Bull"
date: label: Date made
content: 1687
name: label: maker
content: Stradivari, Antonio
notes: label: Description
content: <p>This violin was made by Antonio Stradivari in Cremona, Italy, in 1687. It is the <i>Ole Bull</i> violin made of a one-piece table of spruce with even medium fine grain broadening toward the treble side, one-piece back of maple with beautiful broad descending figure slanting from treble to bass side, ribs of similar maple, modern maple neck terminating in the original pegbox and scroll of similar maple, and golden brown varnish. This violin has an original printed label:</p>
label: Description
content: <p>Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonenfis<br>Faciebat Anno 16<i>87</i></ p>
label: Description
content: <p[*87 handwritten]</p>
label: Description
content: <p>A brief history of the <i>Ole Bull</i> is cited in this excerpt from a letter in 1926 to Paul Kochansky from Alfred Hill, of W. E. Hill & Sons, the highly respected British firm of violin dealers and experts.</p>
label: Description
content: <p><i>The history of your Stradivari violin is, as far as it is known to us, as follows:-<br>It was brought to England by Ole Bull, the violinist, who stated that he had bought it in Budapest, and from him it passed into the hands of John Hart who sold it to Mr Chas. Plowden, a well known amateur in his day, in 1861; on his death, in 1867, the Plowden Collection, which consisted of four “Stradivaris” & four “Guarneris”, was dispersed and your violin passed into the hands of Mr Joseph S. Hulse of Cheshire. On his death, in 1883, his instruments were sold by Public Auction and your violin was purchased by our late Father for £500 (five hundred pounds). It was then sold by us to Mr Chas. Oldham of Brighton, an enthusiastic amateur who possessed a superb quartet of Stradivari instruments, possession of which he retained until his death, stipulating in his Will that they should be offered to the British Museum: this was duly done but the Authorities decided that Musical Instruments were not fit objects for the Museum, so the acceptance thereof was refused. This violin came back into our hands and was sold by us to your late Father-in-law.</i></p>
label: Description
content: <p>Paul Kochanski’s father-in-law presented the violin to him, and he played on it for the rest of his life. His estate sold it through the Wurlitzer Company of New York City to Mr. Samuel Fels of Philadelphia for his protege, violinist Ira Briselli. He later sold it to a very good amateur who played on it for several years until it was acquired by Jacques Français and sold to David Lloyd Kreeger of Washington DC. In 1981 it became the property of Herbert Axelrod as a companion to his Stradivari <i>Greffuhle</i> violin</p>
label: Description
content: <p>Ole Bull (1810-1880) was a celebrated violinist and seminal figure in Norwegian music. After developing violin skills during his early years in his hometown of Bergen, his reputation secured him concerts throughout Europe. His technical facility led Schumann to regard him as at least Paganini’s equal, and with his enormous personality, Ole Bull dazzled his audiences. Americans were particularly smitten by his performance tours, first in 1843 and again in the 1850s. A democrat and Romantic adventurer, he became involved in the creation of an utopian New Norway in Potter County, Pennsylvania, in a town to be named Oleana. However, in 1853, after just one year, the project collapsed. He continued to perform with undiminished success, and spent winters in America and summers in Norway for last ten years of his life.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>He also performed with Jenny Lind and likely with P. T. Barnum. He was the concert master of the National Peace Jubilee Celebration in 1869, Boston, commemorating the end of the Civil War. 10,000 singers and over 500 instrumentalists performed for the occasion.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>There are a set of technical drawings of the <i>Ole Bull</i> violin by David Gusset, and a compilation of measurements by Gabriela Guadalajara available from the collections files. Computer Tomography (CT) scans were made of the entire instrument, courtesy of Bruno Frohlich, Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>The <i>Ole Bull</i> violin is part of The Herbert R. Axelrod Quartet of Decorated Instruments by Antonio Stradivari, consisting of the <i>Ole Bull</i> violin,1687; the <i>Greffuhle</i> violin, c.1700; the <i>Axelrod</i> viola, 1695; and the <i>Marylebone</i> violoncello, 1688.</p>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: Italy: Lombardy, Cremona
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Violins
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Luigi Boccherini. Boccherini: String Quintets, op.11, Nos. 4-6
label: Related Publication
content: Friedrich Dotzauer. Dotzauer: Quintet in D Minor, Op. 134; Six Pieces for 3 Violoncelli, Op. 104; Three Etudes for Violoncello Solo; Quartet for Violoncello Obbligato, 2 Violins, and Viola, Op. 64
label: Related Publication
content: Auguste Franchomme & Frédéric Chopin. Franchomme & Chopin: Grand Duo Concertant; Caprices Op. 7, Nos. 2, 4, & 7; Two Nocturnes; Grande Valse, Op. 34.
label: Related Publication
content: Felix Mendelssohn and Neils Gade. Mendelssohn & Gade: String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20; String Octet in F Major, Op. 17.
label: Related Publication
content: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Complete String Quartets
label: Related Publication
content: Georges Onslow. Georges Onslow: String Quintets Opp. 38, 39 & 40.
label: Related Publication
content: Shinichi Yokoyama. The Decorated Instruments of Antonio Stradivari
label: Related Publication
content: Schubert, Franz. Franz Schubert: Quintet in C Major D. 956, Rondo in A Major D. 438
label: Related Publication
content: Louis Spohr: Octet in D Minor, Op. 65; Sextet in C Major, Op. 140, Quintet in G Major, Op. 33, No. 2.
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Evelyn and Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2000.0013.02
label: accession number
content: 2000.0013
label: catalog number
content: 2000.0013.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: violin
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: spruce (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: maple (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 23 5/8 in x 8 1/4 in x 3 7/8 in; 60.0075 cm x 20.955 cm x 9.8425 cm