Giuseppe Castagnino

Giuseppe Castagnino was born on May 4, 1883 in Cogorno, near Genoa.

His father was a carpenter, cooper and amateur violin maker, and Giuseppe learned how to make stringed instruments from his father.

He won a gold medal at the Milan Exhibition as early as 1906. When he participated in the Turin Exhibition in 1911, he was introduced to Giuseppe Fiorini (1861-1934) by Cesare Candi (1869-1947), and from January 1913 he undertook a 40-day training course at a workshop in Munich.

*At the time, Fiorini's workshop was very famous and, like Castagnino's, accepted many craftsmen for short periods of time.

Although they were not truly apprentices, Castagnino also assisted with production and repairs in the workshop, and is thought to have gained a new approach from him.

He then returned to Chiavari and became independent, and apart from a brief hiatus during the war, he devoted his life to making porcelain with his son Roberto (1925-?).

Castagnino rarely changed his models or styles, but instead changed the texture and color of the varnish over time.

The scroll and corner edges of the side panels are often painted in black ink, and the "C. CASTAGNINO" brand is stamped around and inside the endpin.

He died in 1975 (at the age of 93).

Quotations《The Brompton's Book of Violin and Bow Makers》《Liuteria Italiana III》