Walter G. Johnson, London 1921 (EN025) - $12,750 Canadian

Walter G. Johnson, London 1921 (EN025) - $12,750 Canadian

This cello was made in London in the aftermath of the First World War by Walter G. Johnson, himself a veteran of that conflict. The instrument's varnish is strikingly dark — a quality that seems to echo the mood of a nation still reeling from the loss of a generation to the industrial slaughter of the Western Front.

It was about at this time, in 1919, that Elgar introduced his haunting Cello Concerto in E minor, later made famous by Jacqueline du Pré — a work widely heard as a lament for the world that had been lost. It is said that the inspiration for the theme came to Elgar whilst walking on the Malvern Hills, where on still days he could hear the distant thud of the guns across the Channel. Playing Johnson's cello, one can imagine that same sorrow.

Johnson was born in 1893 and lived in Lambeth, south London. He received his training in lutherie at the Northern Polytechnic in London, an institution that played a role in the government's effort to reintegrate demobilized soldiers — many of them physically and psychologically wounded — back into civilian life. Faced with the return of hundreds of thousands of traumatized young men from the front, the government implemented a range of technical retraining programs across the trades; lutherie was among them. It was a hopeful solution to an almost unimaginable social challenge.

This is not the first time we have encountered a cello of this period wearing such a dark varnish, and one wonders whether the choice was conscious — a craftsman's response to his times.

The tone matches the varnish entirely: very dark, yet optimistically warm. The cello is in very fine condition with few repairs, and is fitted with a Wittner tailpiece, Bender endpin, and Evah Pirazzi strings.

The length of back is 752mm. High resolution photos available on request.