With a history spanning over a hundred years, W.E. Hill & Sons was the preeminent British violin- and bow-making firm of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Luthier William Ebsowrth Hill founded the London workshop in 1880, and his skill for restoration immediately set him apart. Under Hill’s son, Alfred, the firm became known for expert …
The Gand & Bernardel workshop brought together three top tier violin makers in one Parisian atelier: Charles Nicolas Eugène Gand, Gustave Bernardel, and Ernest Bernardel. Gand began his business partnership with the Bernardel brothers after his own brother and business partner, Charles Adolphe Gand, passed in 1866. All three luthiers were linked through their shared …
The son of famed Mirecourt archetier Charles Nicolas Bazin, Charles Louis Bazin (1881-1953) grew up steeped in the family business. Bazin trained under his father, eventually taking over the atelier in 1907 at the age of twenty-six. World War I briefly paused Bazin’s business; he was called to serve in the infantry, and the war …
Cremonese luthier Andrea Guarneri (1623-1698) holds a special place in music history as both the founder of the Guarneri lutherie dynasty and a champion of the Amati violin-making tradition. Guarneri apprenticed under Nicolò Amati in two distinct periods: 1641-1646 and 1650-1654. The two makers worked together so closely that some of their violins are indistinguishable …
