The 1909 instrument made by Ferruccio Varagnolo and valued at $65,000 has not been played for 30 years.

Not much is known about the life of Ferruccio Varagnolo. The gifted young luthier from Milan who was born in the 1880s studied the art of violin making from the celebrated craftsman Leandro Bisiach and was surprisingly prolific as a maker. Although the precise number of instruments he made is unknown, when those that survive to this day find their way to the world’s great auction houses, they are notable for their warmth and depth of tone and sell for many tens of thousands of dollars.

Yet despite his accomplishments and superb skill, Varagnolo’s genius was a tortured one. He would die aged just 31 years old in a mental asylum in Eastern France where he spent the last few years of his life.  His story may have been troubled and cut tragically short, but his name is preserved in his legacy of instruments, and one of these precious violins has remarkably now turned up in Queensland.

Brisbane-based luthier Olaf Grawert of the Violin Studio was approached by the owners of the instrument, who were unaware of its value or the fascinating history of its maker. It had been given to the owners, who are based on the Gold Coast, before they immigrated to Australia from the United Kingdom in the 1950s. For the past 30 years the violin, which was made in 1909, has remained unplayed and forgotten, stored in a cupboard.

Grawert, who is in the process of bringing the instrument back to its former glory, has estimated its value to be around $65,000, which he says is a bargain price for such a rare example of this maker’s work. He likens the calibre of its construction and quality of tone to that of a Guaneri instrument, who after Antonio Stradivari is perhaps the next most revered luthier to have ever lived. However the owners intend to leave Australia in March next year, and while they have expressed their hope that the instrument will start the next chapter of its life Down Under, if they have not found a buyer by that time they will have to take the instrument back to Europe.

For more details on this instrument contact Olaf Grawert at the Violin Studio.