Axelrod quartet

The Axelrod quartet consists of:

• the Ole Bull violin (1687)[https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_739715 Stradivarius Violin: "The Ole Bull"] National Museum of American History
• the Greffuhle violin (1709)[https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_739714 Stradivarius Violin: "The Greffuhle"] National Museum of American History
• the Axelrod viola (1695)[https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_739716 Stradivarius Viola: "The Axelrod"] National Museum of American History
• the Marylebone cello (1688)[https://www.si.edu/object/stradivarius-violoncello-marylebon:nmah_739717 The Marylebone Cello] National Museum of American History (the spelling Marylebon is an error).

A remarkable feature of these four instruments is that they are all decorated:The decorations can be seen in the images included in the Smithsonian Institution's articles: [https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_739715 Ole Bull violin], [https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_739714 Greffuhle violin], [https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_739716 Axelrod viola], [https://www.si.edu/object/stradivarius-violoncello-marylebon:nmah_739717 Marylebone cello].

• The two violins are decorated along the rims of the top and back, as well as on the ribs and the pegbox.
• The Axelrod viola is decorated only along the rims of the top and back and in a different way (only in black).
• The Marylebone cello is decorated on the ribs and the pegbox.

The ornaments on the cello were added in the 20th century but the two violins and the viola were decorated by Stradivari, placing them among the small group of eleven surviving Stradivarius string instruments decorated by the great luthier. Four other decorated Stradivarius instruments belong to the Royal Quartet in Madrid.

In 1998, Axelrod donated these four instruments to the Smithsonian Institution. Their value at the time was estimated at $50 million.[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/sharing-the-gift-of-music-155782450/ Sharing the Gift of Music] smithsonianmag.com, August 1998. The donation led to the foundation of the Axelrod String Quartet in 1998. [https://www.smithsonianchambermusic.org/about/ensembles/axelrod-string-quartet The Axelrod String Quartet] smithsonianchambermusic.org

Another Stradivarius cello, the Servais, is also in the Smithsonian's collection. The Axelrod quartet and the Servais cello were on display in the National Museum of American History until 2012.[https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/musical-instruments-gallery%3Aevent-exhib-161 Exhibition, January 1, 1964 – October 21, 2012] in the National Museum of American History, including the Axelrod quartet and the Servais cello.

Category:Stradivari sets

Category:Collection of the Smithsonian Institution

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