This violin was crafted by Benedict Wagner in 1774, placing it among the oldest instruments in the collection. Its construction reflects the skill and tradition of an established 18th-century European violin maker. More than two centuries after it was built, the instrument found its way into the hands of Moshe Weinstein, the first violin maker in the Weinstein family.
Weinstein acquired the violin from a member of the Palestine Orchestra who no longer wished to keep it. The purchase preserved the instrument at a moment when many fine violins were changing hands among musicians in the region. By entering Weinstein’s care, the violin became directly connected to the beginning of a family line that would go on to restore, preserve, and share instruments of Jewish heritage.
The Benedict Wagner violin stands today as both an example of master craftsmanship from the late 1700s and as a documented link to Moshe Weinstein’s early work as a violin maker.
