Just picked out a lovely old Cello labelled Jenny Bailly.
Ever heard of Jenny?
She must surely be the very first and most famous female Luthier of the last century. Jenny was the daughter and pupil of the famous Paul Bailly and Henley writes her instruments up – ‘strong tonal qualities – pure and homogeneous’. Her violins are fetching various prices at auction but the top price was about £9000 with others around £5500.
The Cello itself is slight ‘ladies cello’ of a warm golden colour and detailed meticulous workmanship of high standard.
It has two tiny wing cracks and is due into the workshop this month for a complete re-fit. When that is complete we will assess which strings to fit (although I rarely stray from Larsens, except sometimes fitting a Spirocore to the C!) The choice of strings is critical and I’m inclined to try Larsen Magnacore to bring out the mellow brightness which this Cello should be capable of producing.
We’ll keep you all posted
Lance
