Alfred Lanini violin, 1921, San Jose | Metzler Violins

Alfred Lanini was born in California and studied violin making locally before traveling to Milan in 1911 to study with Riccardo Antoniazzi. Upon his teacher's death six months later, he entered the workshop of Celeste Farrotti, where he remained until 1914. In 1917, Lanini opened his own shop in San Francisco, before relocating six months later to San Jose, where he worked until his death in 1956. In addition to instruments, Lanini also made bows from around 1927 to 1935, having learned the craft from August Nurnberger-Suess and Auguste Husson.

Lanini mostly worked with models of Antonio and Ombono Stradivari violins that belonged to him, especially early in his career. Beginning in the late 1930s he increasingly turned to Guarneri for inspiration, in addition to his own model. He was extraordinarily prolific, with 500-600 instruments to his name, mostly violins, and about 100 bows. Varnish varies widely in color based on the period, labels are handwritten, and "A. Lanini" is often stamped to the endpin or handle of the stick. (Tarisio)