(b Rome, 30 May 1895; d Point Lookout, Long Island, NY, 26 June 1973). Italian maker and restorer of violins. While still at school he became a workshop assistant to Giuseppe Rossi, a pupil of Degani. By the time he was 16, Sacconi already had his own clientèle, and a particular ability as a maker of copies.
In 1931 he moved to New York to work for the dealer Emil Herrmann. He continued to make new instruments – and occasionally bows – but his time there was mainly taken up with repairs and restoration work. In this field he had no equal, an example of his work being a Stradivari of the best period, virtually destroyed in an accident in 1948, which now shows no sign of having suffered. In the imitation of old Italian varnish he excelled all rivals. In 1951 Sacconi went with his pupil D’Attili to work for Rembert Wurlitzer. A first-class workshop was built up and many of the best American repairers were trained in it. In his last years he spent much time teaching in Cremona, Italy, and published I segreti di Stradivari (Cremona, 1972), setting out in detail Stradivari’s working methods.
CHARLES BEARE