Archives

Iconography
Birth : 1798 in Mirecourt (Vosges) Death : 1875 in Paris (Ile-de-France)

Summary

Certainly in a different way but together with Nicolas LUPOT, Jean-Baptiste VUILLAUME is the foremost French violin maker.

Biography

Career
Issued from a family including violin makers as far as the fourth generations (Claude Nicolas François VUILLAUME, 1715-1785), J.B. VUILLAUME started his apprenticeship in 1813 with his father, Claude François VUILLAUME.
In 1817, he joined the workshop of Nicolas SIMOUTRE , in MIRECOURT before coming to Paris in 1818 to help François CHANOT to the production of the Guitar-shaped violins.

In 1819, Francois CHANOT was required to return to active duty in the Navy. "Before taking this assignment, CHANOT on the 25th of November 1819, collaborated with the MIRECOURT traders LETE-SIMON and PAYONNE who continued to produce and commercialize guitar-shaped violins". Antoine LETE had died on the 3rd of November, but his widow Marguerite was to carry on quite ably. While Marguerite managed the shop in MIRECOURT, her son in law travels between MIRECOURT and Paris to keep watch over the shop in Paris where JB VUILLAUME was left in charge of production.

In 1821 the son of Antoine LETE, Nicolas-Antoine, comes back from America to run the company. Under his direction, with the collaboration of JB VUILLAUME, he continued the production of guitar-shaped violins for awhile, before starting the production of violins made as copies of the old Masters. A quartet of this type, built by VUILLAUME, won a silver medal at the 1823 Paris Exposition des Products de l'industrie, confirming the soundness of this decision. (1)

During the year 1825, an association of LETE-VUILLAUME was created which separated their respective activities. From that date forward, the production of  instruments of the violin family was officially produced by JB VUILLAUME and located at 30 rue Croix des Petits Champs, in the former workshop of Nicolas LUPOT.
This association lasted until 1827, the date at which VUILLAUME exhibits under his own name at the Paris Exposition des Produits de l'industrie, where he won a Silver medal equally along with Jacques-Pierre THIBOUT.
 
Workshop
In 1828, Jean-Baptiste VUILLAUME settled his own firm at 46, rue Croix des Petits Champs. This is around that date that he started to give his instruments the look of the old Cremonese violins. He stayed this same place during thirty years until he retired in 1858 to the property he bought in 1843 and was already living from several years at 3, rue Demours aux Ternes, where he continued to produce instruments and bows.
 
Works, labels & brands
Jean-Baptiste VUILLAUME started to sign and numbered his instruments as soon as 1823.
Instruments bear generally the small brand « VUILLAUME », one centimetre long, usually stamped to the inside table. In general instruments are numbered, but they can bear only the label of the model after which they have been made. He used a handwritten label approximatively up to the violin n° 30. Then, he used three different printed labels, two at rue Croix des Petits Champs, the third one at 3, rue Demours-Ternes. Many violins, particularly the earlier ones, bear an ink signature or an autograph, with the two last figures of the date. The production number can be found too, nearly always placed in the middle of the inside back, not far from the sound post. From 1830 to 1841 signature and numbers are not still visible. His name only, stamped to the inside with the small stamp, can be found.
After 1841 he signed and numbered again his production. It's generally acknowledged that more than three thousand instruments came out of Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume's workshop.

Beside his production, Jean Baptiste Vuillaume marketed another type of instruments, mainly violins and few cellos, known as « St. CECILE DES THERNES » which name belongs from Sainte Cécile, the Saint Patron of musicians and "Les Thernes", from the property he owned in that place, still a village outside Paris at that time. These instruments were made at MIRECOURT by his brother Nicolas, mainly after the Stradivari pattern, very few after Guarneri, and varnished in J.B's. A transfer was placed under the varnish at the top of the back, showing Sainte Cécile playing the viol. These instruments are generally coated with an orange-red vanish, sometimes of a transparent and rich consistency, sometimes of a darker, muddy and less attractive quality.(see iconography)
 
Another type of violins were manufactured by Nicolas VUILLAUME under the name of STENTOR, the quality being more ordinary than the «St. Cecile». These violins bear the Stentor brand inside and the Stentor crest at the back of the head. This production is divided in Stentor 1 (#2184) or 2 (#2495) depending on the quality. They are made after Guarneri or Stradivari pattern and one can find some cello of this type as well.(see iconography)
 
Collaborators for violins
- BAILLY Paul, (1864 to 1868) (2)
- BARBÉ Jean-François (c.1851 to c.1860) (1)
- BARBÉ Télesphore (c.1860 - ?) (1)
- BLANCHARD Paul
- BUTHOD Charles (1831 to 1840) (1)
- BUTHOD Nicolas
- DARTE Auguste (c.1850 to ?) (2)
- DELANOY Alexandre (1867 to 1870) (2)
- DERAZEY Honoré (1830 to 1839) (2)
- GEMUNDER Georg (1843 to 1847) (2)
- GERMAIN Joseph Louis (1845 to 1850) (2)
- LOTTE Georges
- MAUCOTEL Charles Adolphe (1839 to 1844) (2)
- MERMILLOT Maurice (c.1855)
- NEUNER Ludwig, (1860 to 1867) (2)
- PACHEREL Pierre (? to 1839) (1)
- SILVESTRE Hippolyte (1827 to 1831) (2)
- SIMONIN Charles ( 1835 to 1841) (1)
- VUILLAUME Nicolas (1832 to 1841) (2)
- VUILLAUME Nicolas-François (1825 to 1828), (1)
- VUILLAUME Sébastien (nephew). (1853 to ? ) (2)
 
Collaborators for bows (2)
- BAUSH Ludwig-Christian,
- FONCLAUSE Claude Joseph,
- HUSSON Charles Claude (c.1873-1875)
- HENRY Joseph
- JACOBSEN Thomas,
- LENOBLE Auguste,
- LIEBICH II Ernst,
- MALINE Guillaume,
- MARTIN Jean-Joseph (1858 to 1863) (2)
- NURNBERGER Johann Christoph,
- PECCATTE Charles (1865 to 1870) (1)
- PECCATTE Dominique,
- PECCATTE François,
- PERSOIT Jean, Pierre, Marie,
- POIRSON Justin,
- PFREFTSCHNER Hermann.
- SIMON Pierre (1840 to 1844 or 1847) (1)
- VOIRIN Joseph
- VOIRIN François Nicolas. (1852 to 1870) (1)
 
Awards and medals
- 1827, Silver medal at the National Paris exhibition of the Industrial work.
- 1834, Silver medal at the Paris Exhibition.
- 1844 and 1849, Gold medal at the Paris National Exhibition.
- 1851, Council medal at the International London Exhibition.
- 1855, Gold medal at the Paris International Exhibition.
 
Sources
1 - (Millot S. 2006)
2 - (MILLANT Roger. 1972)
(More specfic publication references are available in our Bibliography section.)
© Viaduct Violins – All rights Reserved. – 2003 - 2026 .
Select a Maker

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W