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Omobono was the third son of Antonio and Francesca Stradivari, born in 1679. Generally considered less able than his older brother Francesco, his own work is comparatively rare and his contribution to the output of the workshop during his father’s lifetime unclear. Instruments attributed to him individually share many of the characteristics seen in this example. The wood is very plain; the back has a meagre and inconsistent fi gure and the scroll is unmarked, while the front seems to be made from two unmatched pieces of spruce with an uneven grain. The varnish is quite deeply coloured, but lacks the depth of the greatest work of Antonio. The arching is low, but full and strong, providing a sound fully in keeping with the Stradivari tradition, but it comes from a rather weak and undefined edge. There is very little depth to the edge flute, the corners are narrow and slightly pointed, and the purfling has a ragged and unfinished appearance. The soundholes have the wide set and upright appearance of other instruments from the 1720's onward, although not so perfectly cut. The scroll, although obviously struck from the same template as earlier examples, is roughly finished by comparison, with an quickly sawn throat, an uneven chamfer and a rather unbalanced eye which is one of the chief indicators of Omobono’s workmanship.
All these weaknesses are minor compared with any other of Omobono’s contemporaries; they are magnified only by comparison with what had gone before in the Stradivari workshop. It should be remembered too that Omobono himself was over sixty when this violin was made, and died no more than two years later. Nevertheless, his instruments have the similar tonal resources to all but the very best of his father’s work.
Certificated by J & A Beare of London in 2004, this violin was previously in the possession of Gabriel Messina of Frankfurt, but is now part of the extensive ChiMei Foundation collection.
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