Born in Italy in 1777, Pressenda settled in Turin, where he was possibly trained by French makers. He opened his own workshop in Turin soon after, and today his instruments rank alongside Rocca’s as the pinnacle of the 19th-century Turin school. This particularly lovely violin, however, is made on Pressenda’s personal interpretation of a Stradivari model, and is covered in a rich varnish while tonally offering everything a player would expect of a great instrument. The flat arching gives the instrument a strong core with a colourful range of overtones and an open bass register.