the front and head by G.B. Guadagnini, Piacenza, circa 1745
labelled Domenicus Montagana Sub Signum Cremona Venetiis 1722
length of back 29¹/₄in., 74.3cm.

in case

Documents
A copy of a letter from Charles Beare, J. & A. Beare, London, dated 18^th January 1995
A letter from Max Möller, Amsterdam, dated 16^th April 1973
A valuation from J. & A. Beare, London, dated 1^st June 1999
The certificate of Hans Schicker, Freiburg, dated 10^th March 1973
The certificate of Wilhelm Heckenthaler, Bremen, dated 18^th January 1980, together with a valuation dated 14^th January 1980
The certificate of Felix Grieder, Basel, dated 10^th October 1979

Provenance
In the early 1960s the cello was in the possession of J. & A. Beare of London, who identified it as the work of Montagnana and Guadagnini, and sold it to Max Möller a few years later. In 1973 it was sold to Dr. Horst Krakow, accompanied by a letter from Max Möller saying that it was previously in the collection of George Gudgeon and was enlarged by J.B. Vuillaume.

The cello was subsequently sold to Ruth Schünemann, the grandmother of the current owner, in 1979/80 and has remained in the family ever since. It has been loaned to numerous eminent cellists, including Ludwig Hoelscher and Stephen Orton, and also to young cellists including Christoph Heesch, Claudius Popp and Sebastian Klinger through the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

In his letter to Stephen Orton in 1995, Charles Beare mentioned that the cello was originally labelled 1736 and that the front and scroll are closely related to the circa 1745 Guadagnini cello owned by Steven Isserlis. Beare valued the cello at £350,000 in 1999.

Click here to view Christoph Heesch playing Zoltán Kodály's Sonata for solo cello, op.8 on the Montagnana cello