This Violin was bequeathed to me from my Great Grandmother who bequeathed it to her. It has a name on the interior of Nicolas Amalfi & dated 1769.
It is approximately 22 1/2" in length & at the base of the violin about 8" across.
It has been passed down in my family & my great Grandmother played violin.
Hi Anthony,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.
Labels on the inside of violins are notoriously unreliable - this website does a good job of explaining it (https://stringsmagazine.com/an-insiders-guide-to-violin-labels/). I strongly suspect that this is a copy though without examining it in person, or playing it, it is difficult to know more specifically if this is an original. I have valued this based on the most likely assumption that it is a copy; if it were an original, the value would be in the six or even 7 figures.
Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:
An antique full sized violin
School of Nicholaus Amati
Italian, 18th or 19th Century
With spruce front (back?), ebony finger board, tuning pegs and chin rest, banding to the edges, hand-written paper label to the inside marked "Nicolas Amati / Cremona Fecit 1769"
22 1/2 inches overall length, greatest width 8 inches
CONDITION: with wear and losses from age and use.
PROVENANCE: inherited
$200-400*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.
Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, and thank you again for using Mearto.
Could it say "Nicholaus Amati"? and could "Feaf" by "Fecit"?
I uploaded (3) additional photos. It Clearly says "Nicolas Amafi", however the Feaf could possibly be "Fecit'. Please review new photos.
The "f" in Amafi may also be a "t", therefore it would read "Nicolas Amati"
Inside the violin, there is a handwritten label. It reads as follows. Nicolas Amafi
Cremona Feaf 1769