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The “Pawle” represents the last chapter in the story of the Stradivari cello, and is one of the finest and most complete instruments of any sort from the final decade of Antonio’s life. There are only one or two ‘B’ form cellos dated later than 1726, the year of the “Marquis de Corberon”, and construction of the instrument seems to have come to a stop over the next few years. Very shortly after, a new model appeared. The “Pawle” came from a thoroughly re-designed pattern, referred to as the “B Picola” in the various drawings and patterns surviving in the Museo Stradivariano in Cremona. The wooden form itself survives, apparently cut down from one of the earlier large bodied cello moulds. As far as can be determined, the handwriting on all the “B Picola” documents seems to be different from Antonio’s, and is most likely to be that of Francesco. There can be no doubt that his eldest son played a very large part in the design and construction of the new cello. The earliest known example of the type is the “Chester-Ward”, attributed to the year 1727, and the “Pawle” came shortly after amid a sudden burst of activity around 1730 to 1732. These few years, during which Antonio himself reached the age of eighty-eight, yielded at least three other cellos built on the “B Picola” mould, and a similar number with yet another outline, a little broader but still shorter than the “picola”.
The “Pawle”, like the other ‘picola’ cellos is very elegant in form, an effect largely achieved by reducing the “B” pattern by some 2 cm in width and 1 cm in length. The shape of the middle bouts and soundholes is virtually unaltered. For some, this final reduction in size was a step too far, and there is a relative loss of sonority in these late instruments. The small model does however provide positive advantages for the soloist in terms of access to the highest registers, and the tone and resonance of the top string is less compromised by the smaller soundbox than the lower strings. It is not an instrument for providing a simple bass accompaniment.
The varnish is beautifully preserved, and the sheer quantity of the clear, rich red coating on the back is astonishing. It covers a relatively coarse selection of wood though, not uncommon in this late period and possibly indicative of the state of business in the workshop. h e front is of perfectly good straight-grained spruce, but the back has only a moderate fl ame, which does not carry right across to the edges. The scroll is almost plain, and unusually cut across the slab grain of the wood. The workmanship is still of the highest order, the scroll faultless in its concentricity, the soundholes perfectly cut, and the purfl ing clean and true to the edges, although somewhat shorter in the corners. There is certainly no lack of energy and concentration in the making of this great cello, still sustained after sixty years of effort on the part of its makers.
The “Pawle” is believed to be one of the instruments brought to J. B. Vuillaume in Paris by the violin collector Luigi Tarisio during the mid-nineteenth century. Tarisio is famous for having combed Italy for forgotten Cremonese treasures, and the “Pawle” certainly looks as if it was little used in its early life. It has remained mostly in the hands of collectors who have maintained its pristine condition. Named after Frederick Pawle, who obtained it from W. E. Hill in London in 1866, it was exhibited in the Great Exhibition in South Kensington, London in 1872, and from 1877 to 1882 passed through other collections including that of C. G. Meier, before returning to Paris and the shop of Gand & Bernardel. It eventually reached the hands of a professional cellist, Hugo Becker of the Berlin Music School, who also owned and played the “Marquis de Corberon”. He sold it to an amateur player in Frankfurt in 1900, and in 1937 it crossed the Atlantic to be sold by Emil Hermann to a Mrs James Fessler of Indianapolis. The present owners, the ChiMei Foundation, obtained it from the Chicago dealers, Bein & Fushi in 1990.
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