Born in Livorno around 1760, Pietro Cateni is a is very rare maker who nevertheless had a professional career, as can be verified from archive documents. His activity was continued by one of his sons, Giovanni Battista, who was a violinist, dancer and violin maker.
Pietro died after 1827, and his instruments echoe somehow the style of the Gragnani family, also active in Livorno: these similarities can be seen in the model of the F-holes, elongated in shape and with eyes leaning inwards, and especially in the scroll design: the belly of the peg-box is very low, the throat open and the scroll quite rounded.
