Page 45 - The Strad (February 2020)

VUILLAUME’S EARLY YEARS

had an eŽect was his brother’s departure for Brussels in April
1828. Perhaps this should have resulted in a decline in
production – but not so. Taking the instruments made in 1828
into account, we nd that the workshop had never been so
productive: at least 40 instruments were produced, including
a cello (numbered ‘88’). It is also in 1828 that the very rst
printed label appears. Number 125 gives an example.
e violin is yet another built on a Stradivari model. It is
interesting to note that after the Stradivari model, the other model
most manufactured is one after Maggini, with double pur ing.
( e rst known Maggini model is number 42, dated 1826.)
e archings are very low (just 14mm on both the top and
back) and the violin has a very powerful sound. Both plates are
one-piece. e head seems more ordinary than usual; the back
is fairly shallow, and the volute has a certain softness quite far
Number 125 is from what we have seen previously. is may suggest it was
one of at least carved by an employee who had not been long at Vuillaume’s
40 instruments
to have been workshop. It is possible that the high rate of production
made in 1828 combined with a high staŽ turnover in 1828 may have resulted
in a slight decline in quality on some instruments.
e interior is absolutely identical to that of the previous
instruments, with very large, nely carved spruce blocks.
Finally, the violin retains Vuillaume’s sweeping signature in ink
on the top and back.

J ean-Baptiste Vuillaume is often considered – super cially
– to have been merely an instrument dealer. Indeed he
probably was the rst ‘dealer’ in the modern sense of the
word, as well as a discoverer of raw talent, and a catalyst for
makers to develop their innate abilities. He was a natural leader
who could train his employees in his own methods and style of
working, to obtain an ultra-homogeneous production line of
high-end instruments for half a century. But for me, his
primary quality was as an artisan himself, just as worthy of
respect as his illustrious predecessors. Yes, he was rst and
foremost a hard-working, talented luthier, and the six violins
e volute, again, is not typical and recalls the school of Lupot presented above are tangible proof of this. rough this article
and Gand. e pro le is more plump and curved, in the manner I have endeavoured to pay tribute to the luthier and his rst
of Lupot. ere is no attening on the front of the rst turn. instruments, which in my opinion are still underrated.
A vestige of a compass mark appears on the back of the head – TRANSLATION BY CHRISTIAN LLOYD
an extremely rare detail that also reminds one of Lupot’s work.
It was in 1827, after Vuillaume had moved to his new atelier
on the Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs, that he began to use an VUILLAUME’S VARNISH
8mm iron to add his famous brand. is can be seen on his
instruments right up to the end of his career. At this point, the
marking is not regular (it can be horizontal or vertical) and its 7KLV LPDJH VKRZV YH RI WKH YLROLQV ̰ QXPEHUV
location has not been xed: on this violin it is found at the bottom DQG ̰ XQGHU XOWUDYLROHW OLJKW WR UHYHDO WKH GLIIHUHQFHV LQ
of the ribs, under the end-button. In all cases it is blackened YDUQLVK 7KH GLIIHUHQW FRORXUV IURP RQH LQVWUXPHQW WR WKH RWKHU
with a candle ame. It was only in the course of the 1830s that VKRZ WKDW 9XLOODXPH FRQVWDQWO\ FKDQJHG WKH FRPSRVLWLRQ
Vuillaume began to place it inside the violin, and it was applied RI KLV YDUQLVK DQG WKH QDWXUH RI WKH SLJPHQWV EHIRUH VHWWOLQJ
without blackening, which sometimes makes it hard to nd. RQ KLV QDO UHFLSH DURXQG WKH PLGGOH RI WKH V
e interior work of the violin hardly diŽers from that of the
earlier instruments. Spruce is still the only wood used for blocks
and linings. Finally, the violin is signed in ink on the top and back.

inally we come to number 125, made in 1828. As
previously noted, Vuillaume moved to 46 rue Croix-des-
F Petits-Champs at the end of 1827, obviously an
important moment in his career. Another event that certainly
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