Dictionary of Makers

Enrico Ceruti was born into an established family of violin makers and learned the trade from his father Giuseppe. Like his father, Enrico was also a professional double bass player. He left the family home in 1826 and by 1830 was registered as a violin maker, although few instruments from before 1840 survive. It is possible that during the 1840s and 1850s, Enrico worked together with his father, and this would explain the extreme rarity of in- struments made by Giuseppe dating from that period.

 

Enrico exhibited his instruments in various European cities, but his work does not seem to have been greatly appreciated outside Italy. This was possibly because he avoided imitating Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu,whose models were becoming fashionable in France and England at the time. He was a prolific maker of some individuality who drew largely on the tradition of the Bergonzis (see the violin dated 1863,pp. 146-147), but by the time ofhis death in 1883 he had not attained any great wealth. He was also active as a dealer in old instruments, and had business dealings with Tarisio and Vuillaume.