Italian Viola by Iginius Sderci, Florence Italy c1959

Igino Sderci was born in 1884 in Gaiole in Chianti, Italy. He began to show an interest in music due to the influence of his brother, Don Fortunato, who was an accomplished musician. He was first trained in his wood inlay and carving skills in Siena, Italy, with his relatives in the Corsini family. There, he made his first violin and met famed luthier and teacher Leandro Bisiach. He studied under Bisiach and drew inspiration from several classical instruments from Count Ghigi Saracini’s collection. Sderci eventually became Leandro Bisiach Jr. and Carlo Bisiach’s master in Tuscany. After moving to Florence in 1930, he continued his work as a violin maker and completed the construction of 700 intruments, consisting mainly of violins and violas, and only one cello. All of his instruments were made to meet a high standard of sound quality, which was inspired by the Stradivari model. Sderci paid particular attention to the details and look of his instruments, varnishing each instrument with an orange varnish on a golden background. At the Exhibition-Competition for the 200th anniversary of Stradivari’s death held in Cremona in 1937, two of Sderci’s instruments, a violin and a viola, were awarded prestigious prizes. Later, in 1949, Sderci won the first prize for a violin at the Modern Violin Making Exhibition-Competition in Cremona. The instruments that won prizes in these reputable competitions are now held at the Cremona Stradivarian Museum. He passed away in 1982 in Florence.