Maker Background
Jean Baptiste Vuillaume was the most prominent name of the French violin-making tradition and one of the finest dealers, inventors, and businessmen of the 19th century. His access to great Italian
instruments allowed him to produce high-level copies of Stradivari, Maggini and Guarneri “Del Gesù” models.
Vuillaume, the great violin maker of the 19th century, is famous due to his superior workmanship and top soloist quality sound. He is also known for the replicas of classical Italian makers. Born in 1798, in Mirecourt, he comes from a family of violin makers from the French capital of violin making; he has learned the art of violin making in his hometown with his father. Years have passed until he decided to move to Paris to work with acclaimed violin makers of that time. Later on, he established his own workshop in the city of lights. Which, by the way, turned out to be one of the most prolific of that era, producing over 3000 instruments employing many violin and bow makers. His work period is dated from 1823 until 1875; almost two-thirds of his life was devoted to the art of violin making. With the Italian masterpieces leading their way to France, through Collectors/dealers and soloists, French luthiers started to adopt the forms of Stradivari and Guarneri. Vuillaume became famous for his precise hand skill as a copyist. Some of his best copies are classical Cremonese violins owned by virtuosos of that time, such as Alard and Paganini. We can say that he started the trend of commissioning copies of historical instruments. By 1855 he bought the whole collection of 144 instruments of the Italian dealer Luigi Tarisio, including some of the best works by Stradivari and the infamous Stradivari 1716 “Messiah”, by then he launched himself as the greatest dealer at the time.
