Joseph Arthur Vigneron

Last updated

Joseph Arthur Vigneron (b. Mirecourt, 1851; d. Paris, 1905) was an important French Archetier / Bowmaker.

He served his apprenticeship with his stepfather Charles Claude Husson in Mirecourt, where he studied side by side with Joseph Alfred Lamy père (father of the Lamy family of bow makers), who was less than a year older than he was. Vigneron worked with Husson until the latter's death in 1872, then he moved to the shop of Jean Joseph Martin. He worked for Gand & Bernardel Frères from 1880. By 1888 he opened his own workshop at 54 Rue de Cléry, Paris (not far away from his colleague Joseph Alfred Lamy père).

His bows were quite solid and followed his own individual style. He selected the finest wood and worked it with loving care. He worked quickly, with powerful execution. "He made a bow a day, it is said (or more like a batch of 6 bows per week). Bows made by a man upon whom nature had bestowed a mind deeply sensitive of the beautiful, and highly cultivated by experience.' [1]

Vigneron had a fairly even camber along the stick. The curve was not like Voirin's, behind the head, but more in the middle of the bow, closer to the grip. Vigneron also designed bows with a sort of rounded triangular cross section which added stability to the bow (lower centre of gravity).

These bows were designed in collaboration with the violinist Lucien Capet (modele Lucien Capet was often stamped on such bows).

Very elegant sticks with a fine and strong sway, and splendid heads overall giving the bow a uniquely individual playability.

Vigneron's bow heads resemble the Voirin school, and some have a feminine interpretation of a late period Pierre Simon.

His bows are mostly silver mounted, with solid buttons and matching Parisian eyes. He was succeeded by his son André (1881 - 1924) a prolific maker in his father's style.

While he cannot qualify as a consistently great maker, his best bows can be ranked with the finest of his day, showing elegant craftsmanship and made of superb quality pernambuco.

However, a large part of his output, while solidly made, lacks grace. Most of the bows are silver mounted; gold mountings are much less frequent and gold and tortoiseshell very rare. The sticks are usually round and the heads have pronounced chamfers at the throat. Vuillaume-type frogs are occasionally seen but otherwise the frogs are regular with either rounded or square heels. His bows are branded a. vigneron à paris.

On J.A. Vigneron’s death, his shop was taken over by his son André Vigneron (1881–1924).

Quotes

"Few of the past French makers surpassed him in refinement." [2]

"Many musicians are unconditional admirers of the production of this great master." [1]

"Vigneron and Jules Fetique produced bows that at times could rival a Sartory in terms of strength and handling...." Stefan Hersh [3]

"Vigneron's bows show elegant craftsmanship as well as superb quality pernambuco. His best bows can be ranked with the finest of his day." [4] Gennady Filimonov

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominique Peccatte</span> French bow maker (1810–1874)

Dominique Peccatte was a French luthier and above all a renowned bow maker. He was apprenticed in Mirecourt and later worked with Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.

Eugène Nicolas Sartory was an influential French archetier/ bow maker from Mirecourt, France. After having first apprenticed with his father, he went on to work in Paris for Charles Peccatte and Joseph Alfred Lamy (père) before setting up his own shop in 1889.

François Nicolas Voirin (1833–1885) was a French archetier (bowmaker), known in his time as the "Modern Tourte."

Joseph Alfred Lamy (père), was an important French archetier of the early twentieth century known as Lamy Père.

Jules Fétique was a prominent French archetier from a family of bowmakers.

Victor François Fétique was a prominent French archetier (bowmaker) from a family of bowmakers.

André Georges Richaume was a prominent French bowmaker, from a family of bowmakers.

Jean Joseph Martin was a French Archetier / Bowmaker.

Louis Thomassin (1856–1905) was a French bow maker, or Archetier.

Émile Auguste Ouchard was a French bow maker of repute and son and pupil of Émile François Ouchard. Honors & awards include the Grand Prix of the 1942 International Paris Exhibition.

Louis Morizot (1874–1957) was an influential French bow maker of great reputation.

Jean Adam (1823–1869) was a Master French bow maker known as "Grand Adam" . His bows are highly sought after.

Marcel Charles Lapierre was French bow maker / Archetier who has been described as a "Maker of very fine bows much sought after by soloists."

Charles Claude Husson was an influential French archetier.

Eugène Cuniot-Hury (1861–1910) was a French archetier and bow maker based in Mirecourt, France.

Jacob Eury was a French luthier and bow maker. He was apprenticed in Mirecourt with his father as a violin maker, and later became an archetier / bow maker. According to the Paris census, he was noted having been in Paris as of 1792, where he certainly had some association with François Tourte. Throughout his life he moved many times and seems to have struggled financially. His work however never seems lacking. Top experts, agree that Eury's work is often compared to that of Tourte.

François-Jude Gaulard (1787–1857), was a French archetier and bowmaker.

François "Prosper" Colas (1842–1919) was a French archetier / bow maker based in Mirecourt, France.

Célestin Émile Clasquin was a French bow maker / archetier.

Auguste Barbé (1853-1902) was a French archetier (bowmaker).

References

  1. 1 2 Raffin, Jean Francois; Millant, Bernard (2000). L'Archet. Paris: L'Archet Éditions. ISBN   2-9515569-0-X.
  2. ↑ Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers - William Henley 1970
  3. ↑ Stefan Hersh (Spring 2003). "A Brief History of the Bow as a Playing Tool". Sound Post. 3 (11). Archived from the original on 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
  4. ↑ Filimonov Fine Violins
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.