Tarisio Auctions is delighted to present the ‘Amaryllis Fleming’ Stradivari cello as the star lot in its autumn sale of fine instruments and bows.
Made in Cremona in 1717, it is one of only around 60 surviving Stradivari cellos. Few of these come up for auction due to their rarity, and this example, which dates from Stradivari’s famous Golden Period, is the first in almost ten years.
Tarisio is selling the cello in association with London violin dealership J.&A. Beare Ltd. The firm’s world-renowned expert Charles Beare describes it as ‘originally one of Stradivari’s greatest’. It was made on the B-form pattern, Stradivari’s most successful cello model, which was used to make some of the finest cellos in existence, including Yo-Yo Ma’s ‘Davidoff’ and Mstislav Rostropovich’s ‘Duport’.
The cello’s back and ribs, for which Stradivari selected particularly handsome maple, are in exceptionally good condition and retain much of their original varnish. The front and scroll, although not original, were made of fine materials in the mid-18th century by the Spanish luthier José Contreras, whose own instruments are highly prized today. It has a fine tone quality, for which it was prized by Amaryllis Fleming.
Amaryllis Fleming
The cello bears the name of its most famous owner, who bought it in the 1950s. Amaryllis Fleming ranks among the top British cellists of the 20th century. A flamboyant character with the reputation of being a femme-fatale, she won the prestigious Queen’s Prize in 1952, played the Dvorak Cello Concerto at the Proms and performed chamber music with some of Europe’s greatest musicians.
Born on 10 December 1925, Fleming had an intriguing background. Her mother, Eve Fleming, the god-daughter of a princess, initially told her that she was adopted. It was only in her 20s that she discovered that Eve was in fact her real mother and her father was the painter Augustus John. She also found she had two half-brothers – Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, and Peter, a travel writer.
Fleming took up the cello relatively late, at the age of nine, but rapidly progressed. She won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music aged 17 and later studied in Paris with Pierre Fournier, whom she so impressed that he taught her for no charge. She also learnt with Guilhermina Suggia, Gaspar Cassado and Pablo Casals.
In 1953 Fleming made her Proms debut with the Hallé Orchestra and in the 1960s developed a career-defining interest in early music. She became one of the first advocates of period performance, using a five-string cello to play Bach’s Sixth Cello Suite.
Later in life Fleming concentrated on chamber music, forming the Fleming String Trio with Kenneth Essex and the violinist Granville Jones (and later Emanuel Hurwitz). She returned to the Royal College of Music to teach in 1970s and is remembered with much affection by her many pupils, who include Raphael Wallfisch.
A stroke in 1993 ended her performing career and she died on 27 July 1999. The cello is being sold by her family to benefit the Royal College of Music.
Viewings in four locations
The cello may be viewed by appointment at J.&A. Beare on Queen Anne Street, London, until 1 October and in our New York office from 13 to 31 October. It will also be available at public viewings in Cremona (October 3–5), London (October 6 & 7), New York (October 8 & 9) and Boston (October 11 & 12). See viewing details
For more information or to arrange an appointment, please contact us.
London office: +44 20 7354 5763
New York office: +1 212 307 7224 info@tarisio.com
