Giovanni Pistucci is among the best violin maker of the Neapolitan school between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century.

Before opening his own workshop in 1904, Pistucci was perfecting his technique and beginning to copy or fake the earlier Neapolitan makers – mainly the later Gaglianos, Alfonso Della Corte and Vincenzo Jorio. Some of these instruments soon came to be marketed in Germany and the UK as original and they are still sometimes misattributed to the older Neapolitan names. Dating these copies is challenging, but luckily Pistucci also made a good number of instruments bearing his personal label that are strikingly similar in model and wood choice to the fakes, facilitating proper attribution. Most of these were probably initially destined for the local market, while the antiqued copies were exported by dealers.

This violin is an example of Pistucci’s best work. Made in a copy of Raffaele & Antonio Gagliano it is obvious the care with which it was built, probably made for a very demanding client.