St Joseph’s Hospital scan a violin helping local auction company

St Joseph’s Hospital were approached last week in search to find a place to conduct a CT scan on a violin which was anticipated to be 400 years old. AMATI Auctions reached out to St Joseph’s Hospital Advanced Diagnostic department with the hope to see inside the violin to check for essential components required to value the instrument. 

Believed to be made by Jacobus Stainer, said to be one of the greatest violin makers of all time, the violin was thought to have been purchased in the 1950s at W.E. Hill & Sons. The client of AMATI Auctions came to own the violin after it was left to them by their father. 

Stainer is a very difficult maker to identify, but he did have one feature which was entirely unique to his style of working. He placed five tiny wooden pins down the centre joint of the back, which was then covered by the top plate on the violin. This can only be seen by either taking the violin apart, or via scanning the instrument using technology such as a CT machine. With Stainer’s work being one of the rarest, scanning the instrument on this occasion was the only option to ensure the protection of such a unique piece. 

St Joseph’s Hospital were surprised when they received the enquiry at first and believe it may be a scam however once further details were shared, they were delighted to be able to help AMATI with their request. 

James Buchanan, Director at AMATI Auctions, visited the hospital with the violin and watched as the team at St Joseph’s Hospital scanned the violin, which in turn discovered the famous five tiny wooden pins down the centre joint of the back, making this violin an original Jacobus Stainer. The violin which was worth a few thousand pounds, suddenly has value far into the tens of thousands. 

Delighted with the find, James commented “St Joseph’s Hospital were fantastic, and the team did an amazing job. We are very thankful for their support.”