Born in Sesto Cremonese in 1785, shortly before his family moved to Cremona, Giuseppe Ceruti began to assist his father Giovanni Battista during his youth but, from archive documents, it can be inferred that he also worked as a wood turner and double bass player, a musical career that was continued by his son Enrico as well.
Therefore, the instruments signed by Giuseppe during the period he spent in his father's workshop and also those following his death are rare. Around 1838, Giuseppe Ceruti moved to the territory of Mantua: he opened a workshop in the main city but also worked for a few years during the 1850s in the nearby center of San Benedetto Po.
Initially, Giuseppe's style follows in his father's footsteps: his models are rather narrow and with fine elongated corners; the F-holes have a rather tilted positioning, which will be maintained even in later years. His heads will later be developed into a more personal approach and the corners will tend to become significantly shorter. His dark red varnish is quite different from Giovanni Battista's amber-colored one.
