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42-515: The first owner of record was Jean Baptiste Vuillaume , an award-winning luthier, who found the violin in Spain in the 1860s. He sold the instrument to Lady Anne Blunt, the daughter of Ada Lovelace and granddaughter of Lord Byron . In the 1890s, W.E. Hill & Sons bought the violin from her and sold it to an important collector. It was sold at auction by Sotheby's in 1971 for the then-record amount of £84,000 by Robert Lowe, (US$ 200,000) who owned

84-441: A devoted worshipper and a great master of his art could attain. He spared no pains in striving after perfection in the quality of his materials, and he treated the obscure and difficult problem of the varnish (the secret of which, as applied by the old Italian masters, seems to have died with them) with a success which has probably not been equalled by any other maker since their time. The number of these instruments bearing his name

126-402: A fascinating character who, from small beginnings, built up an important business dealing in violins. However, Tarisio could not bear to part with this instrument. Instead, he made it a favorite topic of conversation, and intrigued dealers on his visits to Paris with accounts of this marvelous 'Salabue' violin, as it was then called, taking care, however, never to bring it with him. One day Tarisio

168-423: A full-size double bass is generally approximately 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in length. Because of the extreme fingerboard length and string thickness, the musician plays it using a system of levers and pedals. The levers serve to engage metal clamps that are positioned above the neck at specific positions. These clamps act as fretting devices when the performer presses the levers. It has never been produced on

210-498: A large scale or used much by composers. Hector Berlioz wrote favorably about the instrument, however, and proposed its widespread adoption. The only known work from the 19th century that specifically calls for the octobass is Charles Gounod 's Messe solennelle de Sainte-Cécile . In this work, the octobass only appears in the "Benedictus" and the "Agnus Dei" and is specified to be tuned B ♭ 0 , E ♭ 1 , and B ♭ 1 . It typically plays one octave below

252-412: A lesser extent. Vuillaume made numerous copies of his favorite violin "Le Messie", the more noteworthy among them being: Vuillaume was able to craft such a perfect replica of "Il Cannone", that upon viewing them side by side, Paganini was unable to tell which was the original. He was able to recognize the master instrument only upon hearing subtle differences in tone during playing. The copy violin

294-568: A low range two octaves below the cello and one octave below the modern double bass with low C extension. Berlioz specifically noted this tuning in his orchestration treatise , but considered it erroneous. As on the Paris instrument, the mechanism allows each string to cover a perfect fifth, giving it a high range to A 1 . The fundamental frequencies of the lowest notes in this tuning lie below 20 Hz—the commonly-stated lower bound of human hearing range —but these notes are nevertheless audible due to

336-552: A tradesman who traveled all of Europe in search of instruments. Due to this fact, most instruments by the great Italian violin makers passed through his workshop. Vuillaume then made accurate measurements of their dimensions and made copies of them. He drew his inspiration from two violin makers and their instruments: Antonio Stradivari and his "Le Messie" (Messiah) , and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù and his " Il Cannone " which belonged to Niccolò Paganini ; others such as Maggini , Da Salò and Nicola Amati were also imitated, but to

378-542: A year before his death. Crafted for the famous violin dealer David Laurie , "Label reads: Jean Baptiste Vuillaume a Paris, 3 Rue Demour-Ternes, expres pour mon ami David Laurie, 1874", numbered 2976 and signed on the label. It's a copy of a Nicolò Amati violin originally belonging to Prince Youssoupoff (a Russian aristocrat and pupil of Henri Vieuxtemps ). Only six copies were made. He also had practice violins, known as " St. Cécile violins", made by his brother Nicolas de Mirecourt. Another lesser line, also made by Nicolas,

420-614: Is enormous, upwards of two thousand five hundred being known to exist; and many of them he made throughout with his own hand.... and we have it on the best authority that every instrument was varnished by his own hand." Jean Baptiste was born in Mirecourt, where he worked until he was 19. He then went to Paris where the influence of François Chanot led him to approach violin making in a scientific manner. This led to his study of acoustics, analyses of varnishes, and to experimentation of various kinds. He won many prizes and achieved recognition as

462-624: The Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs under the name of "Lété et Vuillaume". His first labels are dated 1823. In 1827, at the height of the Neo-Gothic period, he started to make imitations of old instruments, some copies were undetectable. In 1827, he won a silver medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition, and in 1828, he started his own business at 46 Rue Croix des Petits-Champs. His workshop became

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504-434: The "Golden Pheasant", "The Thrush" and twelve were named after the apostles such as "St. Joseph" and "Saint Paul". A few others were also named after important biblical characters "The Evangelists" and Millant, in his book on Vuillaume, mentions a "St. Nicholas". A rare violin by Vuillaume (c. 1874, Paris) showcases inlaid ebony fleur-de-lys designs and is one of the last instruments to come out of Vuillaume's workshop, made

546-598: The 1830s and 1874 that he did not recorded by number, that are "outstanding and magnificent. Octobass The octobass is an extremely large and rare bowed string instrument first built around 1850 in Paris by the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875). It has three strings and is essentially a larger version of the double bass – the specimen in the collection of the Musée de la Musique in Paris measures 3.48 metres (11 ft 5 in) in length, whereas

588-431: The 19th century collaborated with his workshop. Jean Pierre Marie Persois , Jean Adam , Dominique Peccatte , Nicolas Rémy Maire , François Peccatte , Nicolas Maline , Joseph Henry , Pierre Simon , François Nicolas Voirin , Charles Peccatte , Charles Claude Husson , Joseph Fonclause , Jean Joseph Martin , and Prosper Colas are among the most celebrated. Vuillaume was an innovative violin maker and restorer, and

630-609: The French 18th-century tradition of a short stop (190 mm), which was traditionally 195 mm long in Italy and even 200 mm long in Germany. The violin's serial number is inscribed in the middle inside the instrument. Its date (only the last two figures) in the upper paraph on the back. His violins of the first period have large edges and his brand was then burnt inside the middle bouts. The varnish varied from orange-red to red. After 1860, his varnish became lighter. In addition to

672-728: The Ternes, outside Paris. He was at the height of success, having won various gold medals in the competitions of the Paris Universal Exhibitions in 1839, 1844 and 1855; the Council Medal in London in 1851 and, in that same year, the Legion of Honour . A maker of more than 3,000 instruments—almost all of which are numbered—and a fine tradesman, Vuillaume was also a gifted inventor, as his research in collaboration with

714-442: The above-mentioned bow makers, most 19th-century Parisian violin makers worked in his workshop, including Hippolyte Silvestre, Jean-Joseph Honoré Derazey, Charles Buthod , Charles-Adolphe Maucotel, Télesphore Barbé , Paul Bailly and George Gemünder . Nestor Audinot , a pupil of Sébastien Vuillaume, himself Jean-Baptiste's nephew, succeeded him in his workshop in 1875. Vuillaume died at the height of his career, widely regarded as

756-405: The acoustics expert Félix Savart demonstrates. As an innovator, he developed many new instruments and mechanisms, most notably a large viola which he called a "contralto", and the three-string Octobass (1849–51), a huge triple bass standing 3.48 metres high. He also created the hollow steel bow (particularly appreciated by Charles de Bériot , among others), and the 'self-rehairing' bow. For

798-400: The actual maker of many Vuillaume bows. The bows are stamped, often rather faintly, either "vuillaume à paris" or "j.b. vuillaume". Other innovations include the insertion of Stanhopes in the eye of the frogs of his bows, a kind of mute (the pédale sourdine ) and several machines, including one for manufacturing gut strings of perfectly equal thickness. Many of the great bow makers of

840-504: The best are noticed under Lupot and Vuillaume: besides these there have been Aldric, G. Chanot the elder, Silvestre, Maucotel, Mennegand, Henry, and Rambaux. Together with Nicolas Lupot , Vuillaume is the foremost French stringed instrument maker and the most important of the Vuillaume family of luthiers The names of Maucotel, Medard, Mennegand, Silvestre, and Derazay, and above all Vuillaume, must always shed an imperishable lustre upon

882-417: The choice of the woods, and the shape of the arching. The only differences, always the result of a personal decision, were the colour of the varnish, the height of the ribs or the length of the instruments. His most beautiful violins were often named after the people who owned them (Caraman de Chimay, Cheremetoff, Doria) Vuillaume occasionally named his instruments: twelve were named after birds, for example

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924-399: The construction of faithful copies of the greatmaster's works. This was the foundation of his success, for the modern copies found a ready sale, and orders poured in upon Vuillaume from all parts of the world. These instruments, imitations though they were, had high intrinsic merit; and it is to be remembered that they were copies made from unrivaled models, with fidelity and care such as only

966-875: The double bass. In addition to the Paris instrument, octobasses exist in the collections of the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona , made in 2007 by the Italian luthier Antonio Dattis, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. In October 2016, the Quebec company Canimex donated an octobass to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra , which is now the only orchestra in the world to own one. This instrument

1008-465: The greatest technical genius of his time, surpassed in French violin making only by Nicolas Lupot . As to the numbering system, for the most part, his instruments were numbered. But the very fine copies especially those of 'Le Messie' Strad, Guarneri Del Gesu 'Canon' and Del Gesu 'David'(which Ferdinand David owned) and Maggini are without Number(s). According to Doring's tabulation (made between 1947 and 1961), Vuillaume made at least 78 instruments between

1050-508: The latter, the hair purchased in prepared hanks could be inserted by the player in the time it takes to change a string, and was tightened or loosened by a simple mechanism inside the frog . The frog itself was fixed to the stick, and the balance of the bow thus remained constant when the hair stretched with use. He also designed a round-edged frog mounted to the butt by means of a recessed track, which he encouraged his bowmakers to use; other details of craft, however, make it possible to identify

1092-476: The little town in the Vosges mountains. In 1775 Paolo contracted to sell these instruments [the 10 remaining from his father's workshop] and other things from his father's shop to Count Cozio di Salabue, one of the most important collectors in history; and although Paolo died before the transaction was concluded, Salabue acquired the instruments. Salabue kept the 'Messiah' until 1827, when he sold it to Luigi Tarisio,

1134-407: The maker's instruments than the master himself. Vuillaume soon found the sale of violins, issued as new works without any semblance of antiquity, an unprofitable undertaking and, recognizing the growing demand in all parts of the world for instruments resembling the great works of Cremona, he determined to apply his great skill as a workman, and his extraordinary familiarity with Stradivari's models, to

1176-483: The most important in Paris and within twenty years, it led Europe. A major factor in his success was his 1855 purchase of 144 instruments made by the Italian masters for 80,000 francs, from the heirs of Luigi Tarisio , an Italian tradesman. These included the Messiah Stradivarius and 24 other Stradivari. In 1858, in order to avoid Paris customs duty on wood imports, he moved to Rue Pierre Demours near

1218-405: The pre-eminent luthier of his day. The signature is usually followed by a doubly encircled JBV (J&B are joined). Early on, it was doubly encircled JBV. The labels at "Rue Croix Petits Champs" began using the doubly encircled JBV (J&B joined), which remained the same on "3. rue Demours-Ternes" labels. In addition, most specimens have a number associated with them. What set him apart from

1260-602: The range of a perfect fifth and gave the instrument a high range to G 2 . The instrument at the Musée de la Musique in Paris, which uses period-accurate gut strings, is tuned thus (though on at least some recordings the overall tuning is a half-step flat). The instrument at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, which uses modern wound metal strings, is tuned C 0 , G 0 , D 1 . This tuning gives it

1302-481: The rest is that he was not only an artist without equal, but also a tireless seeker of perfection to whom there was no such thing as failure. It was this driving force which shone through his life and made his work immortal. The makers of France and the Low Countries more or less followed Italian models, and during the past century there have been many excellent French copyists of Stradivari and Guarnieri; two of

Lady Blunt Stradivarius - Misplaced Pages Continue

1344-569: The sale online, raising almost £10 million (US$ 15.9 million), more than four times the previous auction record for a Stradivarius, held by the Molitor when it sold for US$ 3.6 million in 2010. The Lady Blunt is one of the two best-preserved Stradivarius violins in existence. It has survived, like the Messiah Stradivarius of 1716, in near-original condition, since it has resided mostly in the hands of collectors and seen little use. It

1386-589: The violin and not until his death in 1854 had anyone outside Italy seen it. In 1855, Vuillaume was able to acquire it, and it remained with him, also until his death. Vuillaume guarded the 'Messiah' jealously, keeping it in a glass case and allowing no one to examine it. However, he did allow it to be shown at the 1872 Exhibition of Instruments in the South Kensington Museum, and this was its first appearance in England. After Vuillaume's death in 1875,

1428-564: The violin became the property of his two daughters and then of his son-in-law, the violinist Alard. After Alard's death in 1888, his heirs sold the 'Messiah' in 1890 to W.E. Hill and Sons on behalf of a Mr. R. Crawford of Edinburgh for 2,600 British pounds, at that time the largest sum ever paid for a violin. Vuillaume's ideal, and by constant study and cultivation of his own rare natural powers of observation he acquired such an intimate knowledge and judgement of Stardivari's work in every detail, that he might almost be said to be better acquainted with

1470-651: The violin for nearly 30 years. It was sold again at Sotheby's in London on 14 November 1985 for a record price of £820,000 to a private collector. In 2008 it was sold to the Nippon Music Foundation for over US$ 10 million in a private transaction. In the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami , the Lady Blunt was put up for charitable sale, with proceeds going to the Nippon Foundation 's relief fund. Tarisio Auctions handled

1512-474: Was a French luthier , businessman, inventor and winner of many awards. His workshop made over 3,000 instruments. Vuillaume was born in Mirecourt , where his father and grandfather were luthiers. Vuillaume moved to Paris in 1818 to work for François Chanot. In 1821, he joined the workshop of Simon Lété, François-Louis Pique's son-in-law, at Rue Pavée St. Sauveur. He became his partner and in 1825 settled in

1554-621: Was built on the PG form, being a mature golden period violin. The violin also retains its original neck. It has been played very rarely; Yehudi Menuhin played it in 1971, when the instrument was up for sale. In 2011 it was described as "the best-preserved Stradivarius to be offered for sale in the past century." This article relating to violins is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Jean Baptiste Vuillaume Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume ( French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ batist vɥijom] ; 7 October 1798 – 19 March 1875)

1596-440: Was created in collaboration with SoundIron. According to Berlioz, the three open strings were tuned C 1 , G 1 , and C 2 . This tuning gave it a low range one octave below the cello and equal to the modern double bass with low C extension. However, at the time when the octobass was invented, the double bass lacked this extension and could descend only to E 1 or G 1 . The mechanism enabled each string to chromatically cover

1638-531: Was discoursing to Vuillaume on the merits of this unknown and marvelous instrument, when the violinist Delphin Alard, who was present, exclaimed: 'Then your violin is like the Messiah: one always expects him but he never appears' ('Ah, ça, votre violon est donc comme le Messie; on l'attend toujours, et il ne parait jamais'). Thus the violin was baptized with the name by which it is still known. Tarisio never parted with

1680-471: Was eventually passed on to Paganini's only student, Camillo Sivori . Sivori owned great violins by Nicolò Amati , Stradivari , and Bergonzi , but the Vuillaume was his favourite. This violin is owned by the Musei Di Genova and displayed in their Palazzo Tursi. When making these copies, Vuillaume always remained faithful to the essential qualities of the instruments he imitated – their thickness,

1722-428: Was labelled " Stentor ". His main contribution to violin-making was his work on varnish . The purfling 's joints are often cut on the straight and not on the bias as was traditional, in the middle in the pin. His brand is burnt at a length of 1 cm. There is generally a black dot on the joint of the top under the bridge. He used an external mould. The stop is generally 193 mm long. In this respect he follows to

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1764-433: Was made by the luthier Jean-Jacques Pagès of Mirecourt, France, in 2010. Two other octobasses are known to exist with private owners. The first was made in 1995 by the luthier Pierre Bohr, which belongs to the Italian musician Nicola Moneta. The instrument is a copy of those made by Vuillaume, but with innovative elements, especially in the mechanics, and of which a library of samples from Daniele Bertinelli and Giorgio Riolo

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