How to sell a valuable viola
My viola is 15.5" "student" viola that I acquired while attending the Juilliard Pre-College Program. I'm a petite asian girl (5'-1" tall) so it fit better than the 16" I had auditioned with. My teacher contacted my dad to re-purchase it back for another student but he declined. It had, however, been passed down from student to student, hence how I was able to acquire it.
Currently, it is not in my possession but I can gain access to it. The tag inside the instrument indicated that it is over 350 years old. Does this matter?
Where is the best market to possibly sell it--in NYC or D.C....or does it even matter?
I have not used it in quite some time but it has been carefully tended to for the past 10 years. Please advise.
Replies (8)
Phyllis - is your object to make a decent profit from it?
I know that can be very hard...musicians put a lot of emotional attachment into their instruments that, in their minds, up the value considerably. I'm guilty of that - which is why I told my family that if anything happened to me, I'd like them to not just put my viola on the market, but to find someone who "would love and care for it as I do".
That means more to me.
---Ann Marie
Many good teachers and players have a tradition of keeping nice instruments and bows in their studio, and they get "passed" from student to student others in their circle. This benefits everyone- you may have got a better deal on it because of this, and your teacher may have had some expectation that you'd sell it back to the next one ready for it when you were done with it. Maybe not, though, don't know if your teacher works like this. If he does, he might have been surprised when he was turned down in his effort to buy it back. Tricky to sell instruments; it can easily take a year or two unless you're very lucky. Quick sales to dealers bring wholesale prices.
You can't really sell a viola, no one wants them.
there are valuable violas?
Only if they are gold plated ...
"The tag inside the instrument indicated that it is over 350 years old. Does this matter?"
That implies a date of 1660, or earlier - Stradivari didn't start making until a few years later. If it was really made at that time it would now be extremely valuable, if only as a rare antique viola. It is probably a much later copy of a 17th century instrument.
Labels inside instruments mean nothing because anyone can stick one in, and are ignored as evidence of origin for this reason by the experts when they are examining instruments.
>>Labels inside instruments mean nothing because anyone can stick one in.<<
Very true.
Here's a story from Gregor Piatigorsky's, "Cellist" (http://www.cello.org/heaven/cellist/index.htm ):
Mr. Afanassieff sat in a corner of a large room. He commanded, "Fiameta."
"Play it again," he said nostalgically as soon as I had finished. I had to repeat it again and again. He came toward me. "Stand up," said the leader.
"Buy yourself a better cello." Mr. Afanassieff pulled a bundle of money from his pocket and counted out nine thousand rubles, which he handed to me. As I stood abashed, holding the money, he gave one thousand rubles to the orchestra and walked away.
The responsibility of safekeeping so much money and finding the right instrument made me uneasy.
Of the instruments that were for sale, I was impressed with a Montagnana, but my friends liked a Guarneri. It had a light yellow color and its measurements seemed faulty. But, influenced by their enthusiasm, I was swayed to buy it for the exact sum of nine thousand rubles.
Where was Mr. Afanassieff? I wanted him to hear the Guarneri and to know my gratitude.
*********
Waiting to be paid, the landlady ordered me not to take the cello out of the house, I asked her to accompany me to a place where I could sell my Guarneri.
A well-known violin maker took a quick look at my cello and said, "I wonder who keeps putting new labels inside of this factory-made product. The last time I saw it, when a fellow named Yankov brought it here, it was a Stradivari. Before that, it was a Guadagnini. Now it is a Guarneri."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"This Guarneri is the darnedest fake. It has been circulating in town for a long time. My boy, it is worthless. Don't buy it, no matter how cheap. That is my advice."
"It's he who is a fake!" shrieked the landlady, shaking her finger at me. "Put it back in the cover." She snatched it. "I will salvage whatever I can," she said, slamming the door behind her.
*****
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October 1, 2010 at 02:55 PM ·
Phyllis-- I think that the first step in the process of selling a valuable instrument is to be sure beyond a doubt that it *is* valuable. To do this you will need the services of an experienced appraiser or a shop that specializes in valuable instruments. They will also have the knowledge and experience to help determine if there is a demand for this item and how long a wait before a sale is likely. As you get up in the price range, even the services such as appraisals and advice can get expensive, which is another reason why it is good to know what a sale might bring.