Giuseppe Gagliano I

Giuseppe Gagliano I (1742—1820) was an Italian luthier and violin-maker from Naples, son of Nicola Gagliano (c. 1710–1787) and brother of Antonio Gagliano. He apprenticed to Nicolò and worked most extensively with their father, likely inheriting the family workshop. Throughout his career, which peaked around 1770–1800, Giuseppe produced reliable and high-quality instruments: violins, small violins, occasional violas and violoncellos, and at least one viola d'amore (currently in the Metropolitan Museum Of Art's collection). In the later years, he began collaborating extensively with his younger brother, Antonio, and they labeled these instruments as Joseph & Antonius Gagliano. However, their quality notably diminished versus Giuseppe's earlier independent builds. Today, there are a little over 100 instruments attributed to Giuseppe. They, indeed, appraised much lower than his father's or uncle's: the costliest violin auctioned for $153,900 in Nov 2012.