Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume

Overview

Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume was the dominant Paris maker and dealer of the nineteenth century. His workshop turned out a very large number of instruments, from student violins to copies of the great Italian makers made with remarkable skill, and he supplied players, collectors and courts across Europe.

Life and work

Born in Mirecourt into a family of makers, he went to Paris as a young man and set up on his own in the 1820s, building the largest workshop of its kind in the city. He won medals at the exhibitions of his day, dealt in important Italian instruments, and died in Paris in 1875.

Workshop and location

Paris, France, with roots in Mirecourt. The shop employed many trained hands and ran on an industrial scale, so instruments bearing the name range widely in quality and purpose.

School and style

French school, working from the Cremonese models he knew intimately through the instruments that passed through his hands. He was also an inventor and showman, responsible among other things for the giant octobasse and for hollow steel bows, and he experimented with varnish and construction throughout his career.

Labels and brands

Instruments were branded and labelled in several ways, and his copies were sometimes aged and distressed to look older than they were. Copies are legitimate in themselves, but they must not be presented as the Italian originals they imitate.

Instruments in the market

His copies of Stradivari and Guarneri are the best known part of the output and are still played professionally, while his own-model instruments and the vast trade production sit in a much lower price range.

Authentication notes

The central question is usually whether an instrument is his own work, a shop instrument, or a later copy carrying his name; brand stamps, workmanship and a specialist opinion settle it. This page is reference material and is not an authentication.