Tarisio

What Tarisio does

Tarisio is a privately held international auction house specializing in fine stringed instruments and bows, founded in 1999 by Jason Price and headquartered in New York with offices in London and Berlin. It conducts seven major fine-instrument auctions per year across these three cities, plus T2 auctions for the violin trade, and runs a year-round private sales service for high-value consignments. Its primary customers are professional musicians, private collectors, dealers and patrons seeking authenticated Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati instruments along with fine bows.

The company operates an online auction platform tightly integrated with the Cozio Archive, a proprietary digital database containing 210,000+ photographs, 36,000+ instruments, 3,500+ makers, 11,000+ historical owners, 57,000+ auction results and 14,000+ certificates, supplemented by Cozio Carteggio editorial content, a Stolen Instrument Register, and dendrochronology-based authentication services. An in-house luthiery, photography and attribution team supports catalog production and expert authentication led by founder Jason Price.

Tarisio earns revenue primarily through buyer and seller commissions on auction transactions, plus commission-based private sales and consignment services, across three regional entities (New York, London, Berlin). Pricing is not publicly disclosed but follows industry-standard auction house take-rate mechanics; the go-to-market is enterprise field sales supported by content marketing through the Cozio Archive, email, social media and coverage in publications such as The Strad.

Name

Tarisio

Legal name

Tarisio

Website

https://tarisio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tarisio is a privately held New York-based international auction house founded in 1999 that runs seven annual fine-instrument auctions and private sales across New York, London and Berlin, serving professional musicians, collectors, dealers and patrons.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fine Instrument Auctions

NAICS

Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers (42512)

akta.pro primary industry

Luxury & High-Value Property Auctions (BPAJAEAE)

Keywords

• Fine instrument auctions
• Stringed instrument sales
• Violin auctions
• Private instrument sales
• Instrument consignment services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Auction Commissions: Buyer's and seller's commissions on auction sales of fine instruments and bows conducted in New York, London, and Berlin
2. Private Sales: Bespoke personalized service for sales of high-value items outside the auction arena, available in all three office locations
3. Consignment Services: Evaluation and consignment of instruments and bows to future auction sales

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Tarisio is an auction house specializing in fine and rare stringed instruments and bows, conducting seven curated major auctions per year alongside a more frequent T2 trade auction series. In addition to auctions, the firm brokers private sales of high-value instruments, operates the proprietary Cozio Archive reference database on a subscription basis, and provides authentication services including in-house dendrochronology analysis and a stolen instrument register.

Product overview

Tarisio operates as an auction house and marketplace for fine stringed instruments and bows, combining a traditional auction platform with a comprehensive digital archive. The core offerings consist of Fine Instrument Auctions (seven major sales annually across New York, London, and Berlin), Private Sales (bespoke transactions for high-value items), and T2 Auctions (trade-focused accessible sales). Supporting these is the Cozio Archive, a vast digital database of instruments, makers, provenance records, and auction results, alongside research services including dendrochronology analysis, insurance appraisals, and a stolen instrument registry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cozio Archive: Comprehensive online database and archive containing information on violin and bow makers, instruments, bows, historical owners, auction results, certificates, and documents. Includes over 210,000 photographs, 36,000+ instruments & bows, 3,500+ makers, 11,000+ historical owners, 57,000+ auction results, and 14,000+ certificates.
• T2 Auctions
• Private Sales
• Cozio Carteggio

Products and services

• Fine Instrument Auctions Curated seasonal public auctions of fine and rare stringed instruments and bows (violins, violas, cellos and bows), conducted seven times per year across New York, London and Berlin with online bidding support. The auctions are designed for professional musicians, collectors, patrons and institutional buyers seeking authenticated master instruments.
• T2 Trade Auctions A more frequent auction series dedicated to higher-volume trade and dealer sales of stringed instruments and bows, serving inventory needs of professional dealers and trade buyers worldwide.
• Private Sales and Brokerage Discreet private-treaty sale and brokerage service matching fine stringed instruments and bows directly between consignors and qualified buyers, outside the public auction calendar, for clients seeking confidentiality or specialized transactions.
• Cozio Archive A subscription-based proprietary reference database cataloguing maker biographies, instrument listings, provenance records, and related historical data on stringed instruments and bows. Functions as a research and authentication resource for the trade and scholarly community.
• Cozio Carteggio Extended archive feature offering access to historical correspondence and document records relevant to stringed instruments and bows, sold as part of or alongside the Cozio Archive reference offering.
• Dendrochronology (Tree-Ring Dating) Analysis Authentication service using tree-ring analysis on instrument wood to scientifically date and verify fine stringed instruments, performed in-house by Tarisio's specialist team as part of its authentication and appraisal workflow.
• Insurance Appraisals and Valuations Professional appraisal and valuation services for fine stringed instruments and bows, used for insurance coverage, estate planning and institutional collection documentation.
• Stolen Instrument Register and Recovery A register service tracking stolen stringed instruments and bows, combined with recovery coordination, accessed via the Cozio Archive platform, to help protect owners and alert potential buyers to compromised instruments.
• Digital Library An online library of digital reference material supporting research, cataloguing and authentication of stringed instruments and bows, accessible through Tarisio's online platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,000+ fine instruments and bows sold annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Art Loss RegistercoreOthersPartnership for stolen instrument registry and due diligence verification. The Art Loss Register provides database access for checking instrument provenance against records of stolen art and antiques.
• Thomastik-InfeldminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerString manufacturer partnership involving product testing sessions at Tarisio Berlin office with notable artists like Lisa Batiashvili and Ning Feng testing strings on their Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù instruments.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bonhams: Mid-to-large international auction house with specialist stringed instrument auctions in London and New York. Competes with Tarisio for high-quality consignments and operates overlapping private-sale services, while also covering fine art, watches, motors, and other luxury categories.
• Christie's: Global blue-chip auction house that operates a dedicated musical instruments department featuring fine stringed instruments and bows. Directly comparable to Tarisio in the high-end string instrument segment but operates across a far broader portfolio (fine art, jewelry, wine), so fine instruments is one of many categories rather than a specialization.
• Sotheby's: Major international auction house with periodic sales of important stringed instruments and bows through its dedicated musical instruments specialists. Overlaps with Tarisio at the high-value end of the market while running a much broader diversified auction business.
• Phillips: Global auction house with a smaller but meaningful presence in rare musical instruments alongside its core strength in 20th-century and contemporary art. Adjacent competitor in the broader luxury auction category that could expand its stringed instruments offering.

Direct peers

• Skinner Auctioneers: US-based mid-sized auction house with a dedicated musical instruments department that handles violins, bows, and other stringed instruments. Closely comparable to Tarisio as a similarly positioned auction business with stringed instruments as a meaningful, recurring specialty category.
• Doyle New York: New York-headquartered auction house with specialist stringed instrument and bow auctions. Directly comparable to Tarisio's New York operations in scope and audience (the firm also previously employed Tarisio cataloguer Lily Smith), competing for similar consignors and buyers in the US market.

Regional players

• Waddington's Auctioneers: Canada's largest auction house, with periodic stringed instrument and bow offerings alongside broader fine art sales. Operates the same commission-based auction model as Tarisio but serves a primarily Canadian consignor and buyer base without Tarisio's three-city global infrastructure.

Others

• Reuning Violins: Long-established Boston-based violin and bow dealer that also conducts auction sales. Adjacent rather than direct — dealer-led rather than pure-play auction — and overlaps with Tarisio for both consignments and competitor buyer activity in the US market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TarisioAuctions
• Facebookfacebook.com/Tarisio
• Instagraminstagram.com/tarisioauctions

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles29 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tarisio