Carlo Giuseppe Oddone

Oddone was one of the leading makers of the early twentieth century Italian school and made his apprenticeship in the shop of Benedetto Gioffredo Rinaldi (c1850-1888,) who himself was a pupil of Giovanni Francesco Pressenda in Turin. Oddone was born there in 186, and after his work with Rinaldi moved to London, where he joined the workshop of Frederick William Chanot, the son of Georges Chanot. Oddone thus benefitted from several refined, but distinctly differing, schools of making, and when he opened his own business on Via Po in Turin in 1892 he was able to draw on his experience of making and restoration techniques. His large production is of a consistently high level of craftsmanship, and incudes copies of del Gesù, which show some Chanot influence, and very cleanly presented Stradivari copies recalling Pressenda. His most commonly used varnish is clear and tinted in deep shades of golden yellow and orange. Most of his instruments are clearly branded internally with his name. Oddone was very influential himself on the Turin makers of the following generation, such as Evasio Guerra. He died in Turin in 1935.