Sale of the private collection of leading expert Norman Rosenberg, including a 1685 Stradivari.

A collection of 70 instruments that made up the private collection of leading violin expert Norman Rosenberg will be sold by London auctioneers Ingles & Hayday at two auctions in March and June 2023.

Born in Liverpool in 1926, Rosenberg fell in love with the sound of the violin at an early age, listening to recordings by the great violinists Jascha Heifetz and Fritz Kreisler. Coming from a family of antique dealers, Rosenberg soon became an avid collector, selling his first violin at the age of 20.

Rosenberg was hugely respected within the industry, not only for his knowledge of the detail and construction of violins, but also for his keen ear for their sound. He was often reluctant to sell the instruments in his own collection: many of those that will be going on sale have not been seen, either on the open market or in performance, for many years, and are in excellent playing condition.

When Rosenberg died in February 2022, Ingles & Hayday were invited to assess his collection. They discovered a collection of beautiful and historic violins by some of the finest Italian makers Amati, Ceruti, Guarneri and Stradivari. Indeed, one of the collection's centrepieces is a Stradivari instrument from 1685.

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