Editing William Primrose (section)

===The Primrose Guarneri viola===
{{Main|The ex-Primrose Guarneri viola}}
In 1954, Primrose purchased the 1697 Guarneri viola now known as the ex-Primrose.<ref name="ex-primrose">{{cite web|title=William Primrose: All owner's instruments |url=http://www.cozio.com/Owner.aspx?id=2328 |website=Cozio.com |access-date=3 March 2012 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030929021522/http://www.cozio.com/Owner.aspx?id=2328 |archive-date=29 September 2003 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The 'Primrose, Lord Harrington' Guarneri viola|url=https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/cozio-carteggio/the-primrose-lord-harrington-guarneri-viola/|access-date=2022-02-16|website=Tarisio|language=en-US}}</ref> This viola is one of seven known [[Guarneri|Guarneri family]] violas.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 'Josefowitz' Guarneri viola, c. 1690|url=https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/cozio-carteggio/josefowitz-guarneri-viola-1690/|access-date=2022-02-16|website=Tarisio|language=en-US}}</ref> It bears an original label of [[Andrea Guarneri]] who died in 1698, but experts believe that the work is that of his son Joseph Guarneri 'filius Andreae' who inherited his father's workshop. The back of the viola is Italian maple and the front is open-grained spruce. It has a deep golden varnish with a subtle orange tint.<ref name= "guarneri"/>

The viola was purchased by the [[Charles Stanhope, 7th Earl of Harrington|Earl of Harrington]] in 1874. It was acquired by the Rembert Wurlitzer Company in the 1950s and came to Primrose's attention. It became his solo instrument. Before Primrose, the instrument had never been owned by a professional violist. In 1975<ref name=":0" /> or 1978 Primrose sold the Guarneri viola to Gary Vandosdale, a former student. It was then sold in 1978 to Ulrich Fritze,<ref name= "guarneri">{{cite book|last=Bein|first=Robert|title=The "Primrose": Andrea Guarneri Cremona, 1697|year=1983|publisher=Bein & Fushi, Inc.|location=Chicago, Illinois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jr0rAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> who played the viola during his 30-year tenure as principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic.<ref name="ebsco" /> The viola was sold in 2012 by [[Tarisio Auctions|Tarisio]] "for over $4 million, the highest price paid for a Guarneri family instrument at auction and the highest publicly recorded price for a viola of any type".<ref>{{Cite web|title='Primrose' Guarneri viola of 1697|url=https://tarisio.com/auctions/notable-sales/primrose-guarneri-viola-of-1697/|access-date=2022-02-16|website=Tarisio|language=en-US}}</ref>