Tononi Model Cello in Aspen

Back: Aspen
Top: Italian Spruce
Neck: Baltic Maple

Antiqued oil varnish

Body length: 745 mm
Bouts: 354, 240, 431 mm

1876

In returning to the Tononi model I was looking for something between the dark, colorful Ruggieri and the richer. more formal sounding Strad models.  I used Aspen, the hardest  and brightest sounding of the poplar family  woods that I use.  The Aspen for the back and sides of this cello had lovely tonal and carving qualities but had zero figure in the wood to make it visually interesting, so I relied heavily on leaving tool marks and antiquing for visual texture.  I added the remains of a  “marching band pin” to the back, and, on a whim, I decided to gild the chamfers of the scroll.  I antiqued most of the gilding away so it is very subtle and you only catch an occasional glimpse of it.  (the gilding is also extremely difficult to photograph, you can just see it if you enlarge the profile view of the scroll).

This cello went to  Frederic Rossélét of San Francisco.