Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Jean Baptiste Vuillaume'.
Found 3 results
-
Hey! My grandfather passed away not long ago and we’ve inherited his violin. The inside is marked Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, I understand this is (probably) a copy but I was just wondering if anyone had any more info around it! He was an avid player and had bought it sometime in the 1950’s. There’s one label under each f-hole, the main label states “Jean Baptiste Vuillaume a Paris 3, rue Demours-Ternes” alongside a BtV logo. The other label states “Made in France” Thanks for any help, please let me know if any additional pictures are needed! Cheers, Tom
-
Hello everybody. Since I am new to this forum, I think it is appropriate to introduce myself: My name is Michael, I am from Austria and I am 29 years of age. Last week I visited my grandfather, who is fatally ill. He played something for me on his violin. Afterwards he showed me the instrument and told me that it is a genuine Jean Baptiste Vuillaume. At first, I did not understand the meaning of this, since I had no idea who Jean Baptiste Vuillaume was. Google fixed my lack of knowledge. He said that I should go and sell it. There is a stamp on the inside of the back. I looked through the f-holes with a flashlight and was able to read Rue Demues-Ternes and TBV or something similar. How can I be certain if it is a true Jean Baptiste Vuillaume? I read that there is a high number of phonies around. If it is genuine, where would I go and sell an instrument like this? What would it be worth? It seems, sometime in the past it was repaired, because it is also a stamp of the violin maker present on the back. I think it is not in the best shape though. There is a tiny crack on the bottomside. It looks very old of course, but I think this is pretty normal, because it is in fact a pretty old instrument. It looks like it has been played a lot. I will add photos later on. But at the moment I do not have any yet. I would be very greatful for your help. Thanks in advanced, Michael
-
Hi Maestronet, I'm hoping someone knowledgeable on matters of authenticity can help guide me here. Before I go on, I have looked into local appraisals which range from $500 - $3000 for known shops who provide this service. Before I consider going down that path, I want to learn more about what I'm working with here if possible. My father inherited a violin from his friend in 1983. His friend (much older than him) had purchased the violin in 1940 in Turkey for $2000 Turkish lira. Here is an album containing a few hi res shots (I was unable to get the label clearly): https://imgur.com/a/e3URG The label on the inside reads "Jean Baptiste Vuillaume a Paris" -next line- "Rue Croix des Petit-Champs" and then are some markings that I will need to look at with a magnifying glass to decipher. Extra Information according to my father: The man my father inherited this violin from was a violinist but more as a hobbyist than anything else. So the violin is actually in roughly the same condition it was in in 1940 when he purchased it. It's been babied since 1940, but there are clear scratches and superficial scarring that would have occurred before that. It's still in the same case from then as well. Dad did once have this violin looked at by his friend Remenyi–still a reputable violin distributor in Toronto–during the 1980s when they played in an orchestra together. He took one look at it and said "That's a German violin." Dad's working theory is that Vuillaume himself was likely to have sold other maker's violins as his own at the height of his popularity, when demand for his work exceeded his capacity to build. He doubts the instrument's authenticity, but thinks the label is legitimate and that this instrument did come from Vuillaume's shop. To me, another interesting thing about this is the condition of the violin on purchase in 1940: I wonder if violins were ever "relic'd" (like custom shop Fenders electric guitars are today) to be made to look older than they actually are. Dad says that this is not something European instrument makers would be proud to have done, but I can't confirm that at all. His educated guess (he's a former orchestra player with over 70 years of experience playing and being around violins) is that at the time of purchase, this violin would have to have been well-used to look the way it does. For that reason, he doubts that tag is a fake since "imitators would have been much more likely to copy a Strad or Amati in the 19th century". He can't believe someone would go to the trouble to fake a Vuillaume in the late 1800s when his status as "one of the greats" had not yet been realized. That's all opinion-related. Specs: I'm not sure if Vuillaume's have a characteristic dimension set, but if it helps the fluting on the scroll ends at about 10 o'clock and the back dimensions are: Back height: 36cm Centre bout: 11cm Widest part of back: 21cm Narrow upper portion of back: 16.75cm I would be grateful for any help here! Thanks =)
