Page 38 - The Strad (February 2020)
P. 38
VUILLAUME’S EARLY YEARS
According to
Vuillaume, the spruce
for number 17 was
taken from a temple
of the Knights Templar
corner-blocks in the conventional way. Finally, the violin has a
beautiful signature in ink, which will become the norm until the
early 1830s.
t rst glance, nothing seems to distinguish violin
number 17 (1824) from the rest of Vuillaume’s
A production from that time. e varnish is full, it is
The head of number 17
('!;<8'9 ;,' *!; (832; another Stradivari model, and again has a back length of
359mm. is time, though, the top and back are both in two
pieces rather than one. Vuillaume himself has scribbled a note
on the inside of the front, to the e
ect that it was ‘taken from
an old temple of the Knights Templar’. A nice detail that gives
an insight into the young luthier’s extracurricular activities, as
well as the sometimes unusual ways of replenishing one’s wood
store! Violin making history is sprinkled with instances to
remind us a young luthier must be resourceful when his
available wood is not always top-quality.
Another intriguing detail is the presence of pins at the top
and bottom. ey are bisected by the puring and arranged on
both sides of the joint. It is dicult to account for the sudden
appearance of pins on this violin – they seem not to have found
favour with Vuillaume, since they disappear on the instruments
that follow immediately after. e puring (made in the same
way as numbers 2 and 8) rests in a channel that is deeper than
normal. e f-hole wings are also more marked. e head is
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