Despite his Italian heritage and upbringing, Joseph Panormo set up his own business in London in the late 18th century and based his work mainly on the models of Antonio Stradivari. In later years he was assisted by his son Edward Ferdinand but instruments dating from the first London period are made entirely by the master himself. This particularly lovely violin is covered in rich red varnish and tonally it does everything a player would expect of a great instrument – it has a strong core with a colourful range of overtones and an open bass register. This violin was featured in a recent In Focus article by Andrew Fairfax in the magazine The Strad.