John Barrett viola.  15.5 inches . Made in London 1731.

We present this viola to you in superb condition having just been fully serviced and restored to the highest international standards.  Enjoy the warm resonance.  The voice is deep and powerful, and will reach the depths of your soul!

Keeping it's original J A Beare bridge, and now freshly setup with new ebony pegs, new Pirastro Obligato Strings, new ebony chin rest, and a precision Wittner tailpiece.

Historical note:

One of the first generation of violin makers to settle in Piccadilly, becoming the most prestigious group of makers in London in a period lasting from roughly the 1720s to the 1760s, both in terms of their refinement of style and their location in the heart of the wealthy and growing West-End. Barrett may have been active in the late 1600s, for 'A Double Bass with a Case for it made by Mr Barrett 16.' is recorded in the inventory of instruments belonging to Handel's patron, the Duke of Chandos in 1720. In 1713 he appeared in insurance records 'next the Standard in Piccadilly' and the earliest label in a violin by him gives his address as the 'Harp and Crown on the north side of Coventry Street'. Some measure of his success as a violin maker and businessman is witnessed in his property purchases of three houses in Crown Court off Pall Mall in 1728 for £360. His workshop and its contents was insured for £400 in 1741.

No concrete evidence has been found for his activity in earlier life, and no indication of whom he trained with. No instruments have survived with labels prior to 1720 and from this point he was amongst the very first English makers to adopt a model heavily influenced by Stainer.  His scrolls are very precisely cut following a Cremonese outline, differentiating his work from close contemporaries including Nathaniel Cross.  After 1730 he adopted a deeper reddish varnish and a slightly heavier style with more rounded soundholes.

You are most welcome to come to the String Workshop in Mairangi Bay and "Try before you buy".