About the maker
Francesco was a maker from the Marche region, active during the 19th century and originally from Colli del Tronto in the province of Ascoli Piceno.
The history
Like many luthiers from the Marche, Francesco Maurizi came from a family of farmers. He was born in 1816 in Colli del Tronto and probably always worked in agriculture, with which he combined violinmaking. As a self-taught maker, he made many fine stringed instruments which he sold to members of his community of farmers and craftsmen. Following his death in 1903, his son Giovanni continued his activity as a luthier.
References
Leonhard Florian, The Makers of Central Italy. Cremona: Edizioni Novecento, 2011.
Consistent quirks
Maurizi was a prolific and fairly consistent maker. The workmanship displayed in Appignano del Tronto circa 1850 violin (a typical example) is somewhat rustic but convincing in its consistency. The varnish is hard but thin, with the excellent ground to seal the wood sufficiently against penetration from dirt.
The violin presented here, made circa 1840, shows its typical conscientiously executed scroll with the often-seen characteristic of overcut eyes and volute and the back of the pegbox that is relatively flat. The sound holes, kept tidy and small by the maker, are placed somewhat far apart, and the purfling corners point their mitres towards the centre of the violin’s short, pointed and slightly hooked corners.
