Guarneri

The violin itself is naturally the most important factor in determining its value, with instruments made by the Stradivari, Amati and Guarneri families of Renaissance Italy commanding the highest prices.

The maple-backed instrument is one of about 150 made by Guarneri, the quality and longevity of whose output rivals that of Antonio Stradivari but who was far less prolific than his compatriot and contemporary.

“Everyone there felt threatened,” Carol Guarneri, a grandmother of four in the Fort Worth ISD said, adding that Mr. Austin had previously attended an August school board meeting in “tactical gear.”

To demonstrate how, Gordon, a second-generation luthier, twisted a Douglas fir top to a violin made based on a Guarneri mold that was handed down to him from his father.

The foundation’s continued description of the Guarneri violin as “an instrument of understanding” on its website is “particularly inappropriate,” the panel said, given its refusal to pay the heirs.