gorgeous, mature, refined

About the Instrument
This violin has a soulful and mature sound, gorgeous across all ranges. Its refined versatility makes for a remarkable solo instrument. The back is formed by two pieces of handsome curly maple with strong, lively flames extending upward from the middle joint. The violin’s ribs are of matching material, as is the scroll, which is original and beautifully cut. Its jointed table is of the choicest spruce with a wide, even grain. The golden-brown varnish is of beautiful quality and naturally shaded. This Vuillaume violin, in the flat Stradivarius model, was previously owned by luminaries such as Eugène Ysaÿe, Joseph Achron, Hillard Lubie, V. Renski, Richard Strawn, Barbara Miller, and Peter Paul Prier. The instrument has a soundpost patch to its top plate and minor repairs on upper back seam and A-tuning peg. This violin is in an excellent and healthy state of preservation. Includes a Jean-Jacques Rampal certificate of authentication.

Interior label reads: “Jean Baptiste Vuillaume a Paris / 3. rue Demours-Ternes / #1891”
Length: 355 mm
Upper Bouts: 167 mm
Middle: 112 mm
Lower Bouts: 207 mm

About the Maker
The influential and prolific French violin maker Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798-1875) was born in Mirecourt, France and taught the essentials by his luthier father Claude François. In 1818, Vuillaume was brought to Paris by François Chanot, the inventor of the short-lived “guitar violin,” for Vuillaume to build his unique corner-less violins. It was in Paris where the young Vuillaume met and eventually began to work under Nicolas-Antoine Lété, soon signing violins in his own name despite being only a workman in the shop. Vuillaume and Lété briefly partnered, before Vuillaume struck out on his own in 1828. This was a year after he had earned a Silver Medal for copies of Amati and Stradivarius violins. He was following the tastes of the time for older Cremonese instruments among his clientele.

Vuillaume was quickly earning Gold and Silver Medal Awards at the Paris Exhibition. His industrious atelier producing upward of 150 instruments and 600 bows in a year, employing eighteen instrument and bow makers. Many accomplished luthiers began their work in Vuillaume’s shop on Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs, including his younger brother Nicholas-François, Hippolyte Silvestre, Honoré Derazey, the Peccatte brothers, Georg Gemünder, and Charles Simonin, among others. His fastidiously run and prolific workshop thus had a profound impact on French and German luthiers.

Vuillaume’s instruments were often copies of Maggini, Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri instruments, at times so expertly those thought to be authentic were Vuillaume copies. He located the choicest woods from Switzerland and Tyrol, and studied Stradivari varnish in order to better copy its beauty through its patina. His varnish in particular is of note, the recipes and methods for which were kept a guarded secret and applied with meticulous care. Eventually Vuillaume moved from Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs to Rue Pierre Demours Les Ternes (where this instrument was made).

Vuillaume wasn’t only a master of violin making, but also earned renown for his violas, cellos, and basses. He was also an inventor, developing the octo-bass and hollow steel bows. He earned medals at Paris in 1827, 1829, 1833, 1834, 1839, and 1844. In 1851, he received the Council Medal at the 1851 London exposition and Medal of Honor at the 1855 Paris Exhibition, eventually earning the Légion d’honneur from the French Government. Over the course of his career, Vuillaume produced over 3,000 instruments, and notably successful as a dealer and connoisseur of stringed instruments. While violin making was a craft accomplished by many members of his family, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume made the surname famous. His instruments are held in major museums across the world.

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