round stick, the later ebony frog with pearl eyes, later silver overlaid adjuster
56 grams

Sold with the certificate of Cabinet d'Archetiers Experts, Paris, dated 15^th September 2025

Provenance
Benedict Cruft (1949-2022) studied at the Royal College of Music, where he won the top prize for violinists at the age of 19. After graduating he joined the London Symphony Orchestra, the fourth generation of his family to do so, and became a member of the London String Quartet. A decade later he moved to Hong Kong to become associate concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and a professor at the Hong Kong conservatory. He returned to London a few years later and spent twenty years working as a freelance musician, giving recitals and teaching. In 2003 he returned to Hong Kong as Dean of Music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He was particularly renowned for his performances of Bach's unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas, and in 2012 he was awarded a fellowship of the Royal College of Music.