The ‘Pollitzer-Koessler’ is a fine example of del Gesu’s middle period, bursting with originality and flair, but lacking the almost aggressive mannerism that gripped his final years. It is made all the more attractive by the delicately-flamed slab wood Guarneri used for it, evidently from the same log which furnished him with the material for a handful of other violins made within a few years of each other, including the ‘Sennhauser’ and ‘Kathleen Parlow’ of 1735, and the ‘King Joseph’ and ‘Stern, ex-Panette’ of 1737. If it looks a little battle-scarred, it is entitled to. It has a long history. 

Origins 

Said to have originally come from Italy as part of Luigi Tarisio’s horde and acquired by J.B.Vuillaume, it is named in part after Adolphe Pollitzer (1832-1900). He was a distinguished violinist who was born in Budapest, but left for Vienna at the age of 10. Only three years later, in 1842,  at the age of thirteen he performed Mendelssohn’s violin concerto for the composer himself. In 1851 he came to London and settled here as principal violin of both the New Philharmonic and the Royal Choral Society, gave lessons to Edward Elgar amongst others, and subsequently became Principal of the Royal Academy of Music. He bought the Guarneri in Paris, while studying there with Jean-Delphin Alard, son-in-law of J.B Vuillaume, on Alard’s advice. Alard of course was the owner of the fabulous 1742 del Gesu which now bears his name, and resides in the Musee de la Musique in Paris.  Despite all these connections, Pollitzer made the purchase not from Vuillaume himself, but from another Parisian violin-maker, Claude Miremont.

Pollitzer left the violin to his son-in-law, Charles Morris, a stock-broker and amateur violinist who died in 1919. At that point it was acquired by Hart & sons, the firm of London dealers who were then the  main rivals to W.E.Hill & Sons. Hart sold it to Dr Karl Koessler of Chicago in the following year, who gave it the second part of its name. It is probably the connection with Hart which prevented the violin from being included in the Hill’s magnificent and definitive book ‘The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family’ which was then in preparation.

Koessler kept the violin for many years, during which it developed a reputation as  one of the finest sounding instruments in America. This reached its climax when Yehudi Menuhin used it in a performance of the Bartok violin concerto in Chicago in the late 60s, in preference to either of the violins in his possession at the time, which happened to be the 1714 ‘Soil’ Stradivari, and the 1735 ‘d’Egville’ del Gesu.

By this time, however, it had passed through several hands, sold by Rudolph Wurlitzer of New York in 1932 to Enoch G. Megrue, from whom it passed in 1951 to the violinist Margaret Sittig, and then through the Chicago violin dealers Bein & Fushi in 1979 to Sam Bloomfield, whose collection was sold at auction in London in 1997.

Characteristics of the Pollitzer-Koessler 

Part of the Pollitzer-Koessler’s reputation for sound is a result of the strong thickness of the back. Like many of the greatest sounding del Gesus, including Paganini’s ‘Cannone’, the graduations are in the region of 6mm at the thickest point of the back, close to the centre- 2mm more than most Stradivaris. Many players feel that this strength in the back provides the foundation for the characteristically dark, dry and powerful sound of del Gesu, yet it is quite rare to find Guarneris which have not been regraduated in a misguided attempt to ‘Stradify’ them.

Contrasting with this generous thickness of the wood are the generally compact overall dimensions of the violin. Although it is only 350mm in length, the interior proportions are the same as the Grand Amati model on which it is based. Only the overhanging edge of the plates is reduced, which makes the violin immediately feel smaller and possibly more manageable under the hand, yet uncompromised in its tonal power. The narrow edge in some way helps to throw the soundholes into the foreground, emphasising the slightly increased width of the holes themselves and the freedom Guarneri was beginning to explore in the manipulating their form. The arching is low but supple, with a relatively broad channel around the perimeter. The ribs are made in typically perverse Guarneri fashion, with the strong quarter-sawn figure in the ‘C’ ribs sloping away from that of the upper and lower bouts. The short, outward pointing corners enhance the open nature of the curves of the outline and the middle bouts in particular. The middle bout of the bass side is in fact measurably longer than the treble, purely as a result of the spontaneous shaping of the corner blocks, which also, in typical Guarneri fashion, produces a slightly different outline in the front and back.

The beautiful red Guarneri varnish has disappeared from the front, leaving just the glowing ground coat beneath a substantial layer of polish. On other parts of the violin there are strong hints of the original colouring, and it lays in the grain of the slab-wood back in a particularly subtle and appealing way.

Pollitzer-Koessler Condition 

The violin is presently in a good state of preservation nevertheless, with only  a few significant cracks in the table, which is now supported by a strong breast patch on the interior. The ribs have been raised to make good damage to the top edges, and the end portion of the upper treble rib has been renewed. While most of the edges and the corners of the front have been replaced over time, the back is in remarkably good state, with only a new edge and button to betray the passage of centuries, and a long musical life.