Cross, Nathaniel
Nathaniel Cross
Flourished 1714-1751
St Paul's Churchyard, Piccadilly, Aldersgate and Cheapside
Nathaniel Cross was born in 1686, and died in 1751, and is thought to come from the same family as Thomas Cross (I & II) who dominated music engraving in the decades around 1700. There is no formal document of apprenticeship for him, indeed it is unlikely that one would have been strictly necessary for a violin maker in London at the time, but he appears to have completed an apprenticeship with Barak Norman in 1714, the year that a rather strange shaped instrument (of viol characteristics but cello proportions) appears with the label 'Nathol Cross now wrought my back and belly', but rather emphatically branded, monogrammed, and labelled for Barak Norman. About the same year cellos to a particular new design appear from Barak Norman's workshop, characterised by very long c-bouts. This design continued well after Barak Norman's death within the single hand of Nathaniel Cross, both being an important piece of evidence of their working relationship, and indicating that Cross continued to work for Norman as a 'small master' during the decade from 1714 to Norman's death around 1724.
In 1724 and 1725 labels appear in instruments claiming to have been made jointly by Barak Norman and Nathaniel Cross. Although Norman's name is first in an implied order of precedence (suggesting that Norman was alive when these were made), at the top of the label is a Maltese Cross (suggesting otherwise). Whilst Cross may have been finishing up instruments on behalf of Norman's widow, it appears from these labels that he had aspirations of taking over the shop in St Paul's Churchyard. However the music shops in St Paul's had declined since their heyday a decade-or-so earlier, and by contrast the fashionable West End of London offered new opportunities in Piccadilly. In 1725 his own label appears at 'the Crown in Piccadilly'. Even from the early 1720s there is a likeness between his work and that of John Barrett, at the Harp and Crown in Piccadilly, suggesting some kind of pre-established relationship from at least as early as 1721, but from 1726 we have seen a violin with all the characteristics of Nathaniel Cross's work with an original label for Barrett. This was one of several moves over the next few years taking him back to the city of London. A label from 1731 gives him as 'Nath Cross next door to the George Inn in Alde[rs]gate Street London fecit 1731' (Hill W262) and there in 1733 before moving to St James Aldermanbury (not to be confused with St James Piccadilly). He finally moved to 'the Bass Viol' in Bow Churchyard.
Cross was clearly a very influential maker. He is known to have trained Alexander Kennedy, the first of a long dynasty of makers, and his hand and even his label has been found in very early violins stamped for Richard Duke and there are close likenesses with the work of Robert Thompson who ultimately succeeded to Barak Norman's workshop around 1730: The Hills recall seeing a cello in 1906 with a manuscript label of Robert Thompson from 1737 where they were in no doubt that the hand was actually Nathaniel Cross, and the violoncello in the Beckett Collection of the Royal Academy of Music is a further example where Cross's work follows a pattern that is more familiar to the early Thompson workshop.
Some of his instruments are to a Stainer pattern which he labelled 'Nathaniel Cross Stainero', but he seems also to have been strongly influenced by Italian patterns, though asserting his own will as a maker onto the outcome. Hence, after he left Norman's employ, his soundholes of his cellos become peculiarly extended but can be interpreted as an attempt to apply Stradivarian ideas to an outline that was wholly unsuited to it. He seems to have been influenced by Maggini to the extent that Brescian soundholes appear in the small violoncello of 1725, and other instruments apply elements observed from Amati. The edge work on early instruments is exceptionally bold, following closely in the style of Daniel Parker with whom there was undoubted influence and occasional confusion, but in later instruments this transforms into a much more delicate and extreme 'lip' around the edge of his work. Towards the end of his life however, his work becomes more formulaic robust and highly arched, similar to Robert Thompson's and a precursor of the 'London Stainer Pattern'. Tantalisingly the Hill papers maker reference to a violin by Nathaniel Cross brought to them in 1916 with a label 'Antonius Stradivarius, fecit ( + Anno 1732 +)'. The entry is to vague to draw firm conclusions, but it seems to suggest that like his Stainero labels, a label marked with maltese crosses indicated a Stradivari copy. Some labels have serial numbers instead of dates, although there are too few of these to draw reliable conclusions. Many instruments are stamped internally, or just below the button on the back with a maltese cross and sometimes additionally with the letters N.C.
Cross's work is memorable leading to the presumption that it is quite common when in fact it is extremely rare, and labelled examples particularly difficult to find. We have seen a few examples of William Cross working in Oxford at the same time (including one labelled bass viol), who is elsewhere noted as a music seller. There is no doubt that these are of the same origin. The most likely suggestion is that Nathaniel made instruments for his relation.
Labels:
Nathaniel Cross at ye Crown
in Piccadilly near St. James's
Church, London 1724
Nathanieli Crosso Stainero
feat. No. 2417
Nathl. Cross in Aldermanbury,
London, fecit 1733.
Nathanl Cross
at the Bass Viol
in Bow Churchyard
Cheapside, LONDON
Fecit 1739
Flourished 1714-1751
St Paul's Churchyard, Piccadilly, Aldersgate and Cheapside
Nathaniel Cross was born in 1686, and died in 1751, and is thought to come from the same family as Thomas Cross (I & II) who dominated music engraving in the decades around 1700. There is no formal document of apprenticeship for him, indeed it is unlikely that one would have been strictly necessary for a violin maker in London at the time, but he appears to have completed an apprenticeship with Barak Norman in 1714, the year that a rather strange shaped instrument (of viol characteristics but cello proportions) appears with the label 'Nathol Cross now wrought my back and belly', but rather emphatically branded, monogrammed, and labelled for Barak Norman. About the same year cellos to a particular new design appear from Barak Norman's workshop, characterised by very long c-bouts. This design continued well after Barak Norman's death within the single hand of Nathaniel Cross, both being an important piece of evidence of their working relationship, and indicating that Cross continued to work for Norman as a 'small master' during the decade from 1714 to Norman's death around 1724.
In 1724 and 1725 labels appear in instruments claiming to have been made jointly by Barak Norman and Nathaniel Cross. Although Norman's name is first in an implied order of precedence (suggesting that Norman was alive when these were made), at the top of the label is a Maltese Cross (suggesting otherwise). Whilst Cross may have been finishing up instruments on behalf of Norman's widow, it appears from these labels that he had aspirations of taking over the shop in St Paul's Churchyard. However the music shops in St Paul's had declined since their heyday a decade-or-so earlier, and by contrast the fashionable West End of London offered new opportunities in Piccadilly. In 1725 his own label appears at 'the Crown in Piccadilly'. Even from the early 1720s there is a likeness between his work and that of John Barrett, at the Harp and Crown in Piccadilly, suggesting some kind of pre-established relationship from at least as early as 1721, but from 1726 we have seen a violin with all the characteristics of Nathaniel Cross's work with an original label for Barrett. This was one of several moves over the next few years taking him back to the city of London. A label from 1731 gives him as 'Nath Cross next door to the George Inn in Alde[rs]gate Street London fecit 1731' (Hill W262) and there in 1733 before moving to St James Aldermanbury (not to be confused with St James Piccadilly). He finally moved to 'the Bass Viol' in Bow Churchyard.
Cross was clearly a very influential maker. He is known to have trained Alexander Kennedy, the first of a long dynasty of makers, and his hand and even his label has been found in very early violins stamped for Richard Duke and there are close likenesses with the work of Robert Thompson who ultimately succeeded to Barak Norman's workshop around 1730: The Hills recall seeing a cello in 1906 with a manuscript label of Robert Thompson from 1737 where they were in no doubt that the hand was actually Nathaniel Cross, and the violoncello in the Beckett Collection of the Royal Academy of Music is a further example where Cross's work follows a pattern that is more familiar to the early Thompson workshop.
Some of his instruments are to a Stainer pattern which he labelled 'Nathaniel Cross Stainero', but he seems also to have been strongly influenced by Italian patterns, though asserting his own will as a maker onto the outcome. Hence, after he left Norman's employ, his soundholes of his cellos become peculiarly extended but can be interpreted as an attempt to apply Stradivarian ideas to an outline that was wholly unsuited to it. He seems to have been influenced by Maggini to the extent that Brescian soundholes appear in the small violoncello of 1725, and other instruments apply elements observed from Amati. The edge work on early instruments is exceptionally bold, following closely in the style of Daniel Parker with whom there was undoubted influence and occasional confusion, but in later instruments this transforms into a much more delicate and extreme 'lip' around the edge of his work. Towards the end of his life however, his work becomes more formulaic robust and highly arched, similar to Robert Thompson's and a precursor of the 'London Stainer Pattern'. Tantalisingly the Hill papers maker reference to a violin by Nathaniel Cross brought to them in 1916 with a label 'Antonius Stradivarius, fecit ( + Anno 1732 +)'. The entry is to vague to draw firm conclusions, but it seems to suggest that like his Stainero labels, a label marked with maltese crosses indicated a Stradivari copy. Some labels have serial numbers instead of dates, although there are too few of these to draw reliable conclusions. Many instruments are stamped internally, or just below the button on the back with a maltese cross and sometimes additionally with the letters N.C.
Cross's work is memorable leading to the presumption that it is quite common when in fact it is extremely rare, and labelled examples particularly difficult to find. We have seen a few examples of William Cross working in Oxford at the same time (including one labelled bass viol), who is elsewhere noted as a music seller. There is no doubt that these are of the same origin. The most likely suggestion is that Nathaniel made instruments for his relation.
Labels:
Nathaniel Cross at ye Crown
in Piccadilly near St. James's
Church, London 1724
Nathanieli Crosso Stainero
feat. No. 2417
Nathl. Cross in Aldermanbury,
London, fecit 1733.
Nathanl Cross
at the Bass Viol
in Bow Churchyard
Cheapside, LONDON
Fecit 1739
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| Violin labelled 'Nath Cross next door to the George Inn in Aldersgate Street London refit 1731' (Hill W626) (Courtesy of Bromptons Auctioneers) |
