Tarisio Auctions

Tarisio

Company type	Private
Industry	Auction house, Musical instruments
Founded	1999 (1999)
Founder	Christopher Reuning, Dmitry Gindin, Jason Price
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jason Price (owner)
Products	Fine string instruments and bows
Website	www.tarisio.com

Tarisio stands as the premier global marketplace for exceptional string instruments and bows. Established in 1999 as a specialized auction house focusing exclusively on stringed instruments and bows, Tarisio maintains offices in New York, London, and Berlin, catering to an international clientele.

Locations

The New York gallery and offices are situated at 244–250 W 54th Street, occupying the former workshop space of the French violin dealer Jacques Français. Renowned luthier René A. Morel practiced here until 2011, after which Stefan Valcuha took over responsibility for instrument restoration and upkeep.

Tarisio's London showroom can be found at 86-87 Wimpole Street, close to Wigmore Hall, while its Berlin branch operates from Kurfürstendamm near Fasanenstrasse.

History

Christopher Reuning, Dmitry Gindin, and Jason Price founded Tarisio as the first auction house dedicated solely to fine string instruments and bows. The company's debut online auction occurred in November 1999. By October of that year, The Strad acknowledged Tarisio as a significant contender, rivaling Sotheby's within the string instrument auction sector. Over its initial ten years, Tarisio established upwards of 400 international auction records.

Among its landmark auctions was the May 2003 sale of violinist Isaac Stern’s collection, which generated $2.3 million—marking the second-largest total for a violin auction at that time. To bolster its European footprint, Tarisio expanded to London in July 2006. Jason Price assumed full ownership in January 2010.

In June 2010, Tarisio conducted an auction featuring more than 600 lots from Philadelphia’s William Moennig & Son firm, achieving a complete sell-through rate. The October 2010 auction included the famed 1697 Molitor Stradivarius and set a new record with sales exceeding $9 million.

September 2012 saw Tarisio acquire Cozio, the most extensive online database of musical instruments worldwide, containing provenance details and pricing histories for over 50,000 items. Cozio continues to function as an independent entity.

To improve bidder participation and lower buyer fees, Tarisio introduced First In, Last Out in October 2013—providing reduced buyer’s premiums for those placing both the initial and final bids on lots. In October 2014, the company launched Buy Now, enabling immediate purchase of selected items at fixed prices with discounted premiums.

Notable sales

Tarisio has brokered numerous prestigious instrument and bow transactions that have set record prices, demonstrating its expertise and influence in the fine instrument auction market. All figures are quoted in US dollars inclusive of buyer's premium.

• After American violinist Isaac Stern passed away in 2001, his estate entrusted Tarisio with auctioning his collection; this included a modern Guarneri replica crafted by Brooklyn luthier Samuel Zygmuntowicz, which sold for $130,000 in May 2003.
• François Xavier Tourte cello bows sold in auctions during 2006 and 2007 achieved world record prices of $196,000 and £101,000 ($202,000), respectively; these had belonged to Chicago Symphony principal cellist Edmund Kurtz.
• In October 2009, a violin from 1648 by Nicolo Amati fetched $620,000—setting an auction record for Amati violins—while a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin circa 1860 realized $210,000.
• The June 2010 sale of William Moennig & Son's collection featured a François Nicolas Voirin viola bow that sold for $27,600.
• A Joseph Alfred Lamy violin bow achieved $54,000 in April 2010.
• The October 2010 auction broke records with total sales surpassing $9.4 million; notable items included an 1892 Vincenzo Postiglione violin selling for $126,000 and a Nicolas Maline bow at $36,000. The highlight was the 1697 Molitor Stradivarius, formerly owned by Albert Stern, which sold to concert violinist Anne Akiko Myers for $3.6 million.
• The historic 1721 Lady Blunt Stradivarius violin commanded a record price of $15.9 million in June 2011 on behalf of the Nippon Music Foundation; proceeds were directed toward earthquake and tsunami relief efforts.
• Lorin Maazel’s 1783 Guadagnini violin sold for $1.8 million in October 2011, doubling previous auction records for Guadagnini instruments.
• The 'Primrose' Guarneri viola dated 1697—once owned by Scottish violist William Primrose—sold for over $4 million, marking the highest auction price ever recorded for any Guarneri family instrument or viola.
• Dorothy DeLay’s Guadagnini violin from 1778 set a world record at $1.39 million during an October 2013 sale.
• In December 2013, a recovered Stradivarius violin from 1696 was acquired by English violinist Andrew Bernardi for $2.3 million.
• A contemporary violin crafted by makers Gregg T. Alf and Joseph Curtin—commissioned by Ruggiero Ricci in 1985—sold in October 2013 for $132,000; this represents the highest auction price achieved by a living maker's violin.
• The June 2022 sale of the 'da Vinci, ex-Seidel' Stradivari from 1714 reached $15.34 million (£12.29 million) at Tarisio’s New York event. This instrument was played nearly four decades by Toscha Seidel and remains preserved with original components intact.

These transactions exemplify Tarisio’s leadership role within the fine string instrument auction domain and its significant impact on market dynamics and financial outcomes within this specialized sector.