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In
early May the highly publicized on-line auction of instruments, bows, and
memorabilia from the estate of the late Isaac Stern brought, in some cases,
mind-boggling results. Tarisio auctions marketed the Stern auction heavily
and also offered a number of lots from other consignors alongside the Stern
collection. Estimates and reserves for the Stern collection were highly
conservative and over 95% of the lots offered were sold. Two of the most
sought after Stern collection lots were by the 
contemporary maker, Samuel Zygmuntovich. The copies of Mr. Stern’s two
concert instruments, the “Pannette” and the “Ysaye” Guarneri violins were
glamorous and convincing, visually, and found favor with players, so hot
bidding was anticipated for the two lots. Still, no one could have predicted
that a contemporary violin, by a relatively young American maker could
bring a bid of $115,000.00 hammer at auction, as the Zygmuntovich Pannette
copy did! In fact even the hammer price of $75000.00 for the Zygmuntovich
“Ysaye” copy dwarfed any previous auction price for an American violin
of any period. One might presume that the fact that these two instruments
were each inscribed to Mr. Stern by the maker on their labels, combined
with the quality of the instruments themselves to produce extraordinary
demand on the day of the auction.
A
fine Vuillaume Guarneri copy managed an auction record of $130,000.00,
but in view of the results for the two Zygmuntovich violins, and considering
the strong current demand for good Guarneri model Vuillaume violins, a
considerably higher result would not have been surprising.Most
of the bows sold well above the estimates. The quality of the bows was
variable, especially with regard to condition; Mr. Stern was notoriously
hard on his bows.
The
memorabilia from the Stern collection included some true, once-in-a-lifetime
lots: A photograph of Fritz Kreisler and Pablo Casals, warmly smiling at
one another, with each having written a musical quotation on the photo,
brought $7000.00 hammer. A high price for a photograph, but this particular
lot was so charming that it would be difficult to argue with such a price.
A menu from a dinner, held on the occasion of the Ballet Russe’ premier
of Stravinsky’s “Les Noces,” was signed by a host of luminaries who attended.
This highly interesting lot brought over $11,000.00 hammer, but again,
this seemingly high price could hardly be considered a fluke, given the
rarity and interest of the lot. Numerous other photos, most of them signed,
brought prices above the pre-auction estimates. Original Edition books
were included in the sale, many of them inscribed to Mr. Stern by their
authors. Also included in the sale were a number of limited edition, facsimile
reproductions of autograph scores, which nearly all exceeded the pre-auction
estimates as well.
The
non-Stern section of the May Tarisio sale more accurately reflected the
current market, but the presence of the Stern Collection in the sale did
seem to draw more bidders to the non-Stern lots, and the sale finished
with generally strong results from the non-Stern section, even if they
were not as impressive as the other half of the sale.
The
“Kubelik” Stradivari of 1687 sold at the relative bargain
hammer price of $850,000.00. Given the difficulty and risk associated with
marketing a Stradivari violin, both the buyer and the seller could be happy
with the transaction.
Some
questions are left in the air as a result of the sale: With auction results
of more than double and triple the previous asking prices for Mr. Zygmuntovich’s
instruments, will the price for other Zygmuntovich violins now climb? One
could presume so, but by how much? Will other contemporary American makers
follow suit with their pricing? Only time and the market can settle these
intriguing questions. ###
Stefan
Hersh
Stefan
Hersh is a violinist who teaches at Chicago School of Performing Arts at
Roosevelt University
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