Nicolas is the older brother of Carlo II and the son of Zosimo Bergonzi. The two brothers almost certainly learned their trade from the father, as also L. Storioni. Nicolas Bergonzi’s activities started in the 1770s. His work is neat and has different models are all superb with medium to high arches and varnish which is between a clear yellow and a deep red. The sound clearly reminds us of his great ancestor from Cremona both in terms of its charm and warmth, and also with great projection.

These two instruments are superb examples, made in around 1800. Dendrochronology has also shown us that the bellies of these two violins are made of the same spruce with the last ring dating from 1790.

During this period, it seems that the Cremoan violin makers were building models with shorter C-bouts, as were also built by Giovanni Rota.

model 1 model 2

dendrochronology of the two violins