allViolin.com

Guarneri
Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri
(b Cremona, 25 Nov 1666; d ?Cremona, c1740). Third son of (1) Andrea Guarneri. Known as ‘filius Andreae’, he trained as violin maker and violinist and remained in Cremona as his father’s faithful assistant, inheriting his house and his business in 1698. After about 1680, Giuseppe’s hand became increasingly dominant in Andrea Guarneri’s workshop, borrowing more from the style of his brother Pietro than from his father. In particular, the series of excellent cellos dating from about 1690 onwards would appear to have been made entirely by Giuseppe, possibly with other assistants.
He counts among the greatest violin makers, yet during his lifetime things must have been difficult. To begin with, his were troubled times in Cremona, with Austria taking the city in 1707 and gradually replacing Spain as the dominant power in Italy. Then there was the overwhelming shadow of Antonio Stradivari throughout Giuseppe’s working life: just as Andrea Guarneri must have seen the most satisfying orders go to Nicolò Amati, so his son too had to rank as second best. Second he may have been, but going his own way he created some superb violins. He appears to have made no violas after his father’s death, but a number of his cellos exist, showing by their differing dimensions that he gave extra thought to this instrument.
Not surprisingly, Giuseppe’s materials were at times rather ordinary, but just before the turn of the century he learnt to make an orange-red varnish, similar to that used by Pietro and quite superior in appearance to that of their father. With this he continued through the next two decades, many of his instruments being first-rate in every respect.
Although he lived until about 1740, no violins are known with Giuseppe’s original label dated after 1720. From about 1715 onwards he had substantial help from his two sons, (4) Pietro Guarneri, who later moved to Venice in late 1717, and (5) Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù’. These transitional violins are actually better working instruments than the earlier ones, and it is not unusual to find them described as works of the early period of Giuseppe ‘del Gesù’.