Bow & Bridge

Morrison, John

As printed

  1. Dictionary of Violin makers (1928)

    MORRISON (John) — London 1760-1833. Well finished make. Red varnish. Often adorned his instruments with inlaid work.

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    2. MILLER (John) — Dundee, end of xix th century. Average make, correctly effected work. Stradivari model. Tender and good red varnish.
    4. MORRISON (John) — London 1760-1833. Well finished make. Red varnish. Often adorned his instruments with inlaid work.
    6. MORRISON (James) — Dunfermline towards 1860. Stradivari model. Red varnish. Good average workmanship.

  2. British Violin Makers (1920)

    MORRISON, JOHN, London: 1760-1827. He worked mostly for the trade.

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    2. MORRISON, JAMES, Dunfermline: nineteenth century.
    4. MORRISON, JOHN, London: 1760-1827. He worked mostly for the trade.
    6. MORTIMER, JOHN WILLIAM, Cardiff: contemporary. Born at Gomersal, near Leeds, in 1857. He is a pupil of William Heaton, Gomersal, and he received some instruction also from W. J. Cartwright, of Yeadon. He has been established in Cardiff for about fifteen years as a professional maker, repairer, and double bass player. Mr. Mortimer is unique amongst violin makers: he has seven sons, all professional players, each of whom plays upon an instrument of his father's make. This surely constitutes a record, and it is worthy of remark that every member of this wonderful family is a musician and an artist of undoubted ability. Mr. Mortimer has made a considerable number of instruments, including violins, violas, 'cellos, and double basses. His larger instruments are noted for their full, sonorous, and responsive tone. One double bass which I have seen was made of exceptionally fine and beautifully figured wood: it had an immense tone of excellent quality. His smaller instruments, which are on an original model, are very carefully constructed, and have a large and telling tone. The violas are made in two sizes, the larger one being 16 1/2 inches long, with widths of 8, 5 1/2, and 10 inches. He has used various varnishes, such as Whitelaw's,

  3. La lutherie et les luthiers (1889)

    MORRISON (JOHN). — Londres, 1780 à 1819.

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    2. MILLER. — Londres, vers 1750.
    4. MORRISON (JOHN). — Londres, 1780 à 1819.
    6. NORMAN (BARAK). — Londres, 1688-1740. L’un des anciens luthiers anglais les plus estimés. Il a fait des basses de violes et des violoncelles qui paraissent avoir été les premiers instruments de ce genre construits en Angleterre.
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  1. the violin its famous makers and their imitators (1909)

    MORRISON, John, London, about 1780–1803.

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    1. Richard Meares, without Bishopsgate, near to Sir Paul Pinder's, London. Fecit 1677.
    3. MIER, ——, London, about 1786.
    4. MORRISON, John, London, about 1780–1803.
    5. NAYLOR, Isaac, Headingly, near Leeds, about 1778–92.
    6. NICHOLS, Edward, 18th century.

  2. Les ancêtres du violon et du violoncelle, les luthiers et les fabricants d'archets; (1901)

    MORRISON (JOHN). — Londres, 1780-1820.

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    2. MIER. — Londres, vers 1780.
    4. MORRISON (JOHN). — Londres, 1780-1820.
    6. NAYLOR (ISAAC). — Headingly, 1778-1792.

  3. Violins and violin makers. Biographical dictionary of the great Italian artistes, their followers and imitators, to the present time. With essays on important subjects connected with the violin (1866)

    MORRISON, JOHN, London, 1780 to 1819.

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    1. MONTADE, GREGORIO, Cremona, 1735.
    2. Considered to be a pupil of Stradiuarius, but more probably an imitator.
    3. MONTAGNANA, DOMINICO, Venezia, 1725. This excellent artiste made instruments generally of a large size, and used wood of a large and beautiful figure. The varnish exceedingly brilliant and of a rich yellow or yellow red colour, and the tone everything that can be desired. Mr. Perkins had a violoncello of this make, which was originally sold as a Joseph Guarnerius, and was said in the catalogue to be uncommonly fine and handsome. This is another of those careful artistes, whose productions are now in high esteem when one of the three great masters cannot be obtained, and which will very probably hereafter rank with them and become very famous.
    4. MORRISON, JOHN, London, 1780 to 1819.
    5. MORELLA, MORGLATO, Mantua, about 1550. Famous for rebeccs, viols, and viols da gamba.

  4. The Violin: Its Famous Makers and their Imitators (1875)

    Morrison, John, London, 1780—1823.

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    2. Mier, London, 1786.
    3. Millar, Alexander, St. Andrew's.
    4. Morrison, John, London, 1780—1823.
    5. Murdoch, Alexander, Aberdeen.
    6. Naylor, Leeds, 18th century.
    7. Norborn, John, London, 1723.

Named in 7 books printed between 1866 and 1928. Read by software from scans of those pages, not yet checked by a person against the page. Entries from 7 books stand under this name, and the software judged them likely the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record.

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Details and sources

Record note

Not established: that is this record’s honest state, resting on one thing alone — British Violin Makers (1920); British Violin Makers: A Biographical Dictionary of British Makers of Stringed Instruments and Bows and a Critical Description of Their Work (1920), naming this maker and nothing more. No claim beyond what is printed there has been invented here. If more can be said, write in and tell us.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
MORRISON, JOHN, London: 1760-1827. He worked mostly for the trade. reported1
Places and dates of work
MORRISON, JOHN, London: 1760-1827. He worked mostly for the trade. reported1
Places and dates of work
MORRISON (John) — London 1760-1833. Well finished make. Red varnish. Often adorned his instruments with inlaid work. reported1
Places and dates of work
MORRISON (JOHN). — Londres, 1780 à 1819. reported1
Places and dates of work
MORRISON (JOHN). — Londres, 1780-1820. reported1
Places and dates of work
MORRISON, JOHN, London, 1780 to 1819. reported1
Places and dates of work
MORRISON, John, London, about 1780–1803. reported1
Places and dates of work
MORRISON, John, London, about 1780–1803. reported1
Places and dates of work
Morrison, John, London, 1780—1823. reported1
Places and dates of work
Morrison, John, London, 1780—1823. reported1

How the pages were read

10 of the 10 lines here were read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words), not by a person looking at the page image. 4 of them rest on a section heading above a list of names, not on a trade word printed on their own line: “VIOLIN MAKERS.”, “ENGLISH MAKERS”, “ENGLISH MAKERS.”, “SECTION XII.—GERMAN AND DUTCH MAKERS.”.

Notes

  1. Read from machine text (software that turns a photo of a page into words, or a typed transcription), not by a person looking at the page image. ↩

The books behind this record

This record draws on 7 sources. Each is listed below with how it was read, because a claim read from a photo of the page is stronger than one read from machine text.

  1. W. Meredith Morris, British Violin Makers (London: Robert Scott, 1920). archive.org, bwb_W9-CSA-426. https://archive.org/details/bwb_W9-CSA-426.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  2. W. Meredith Morris, British Violin Makers: A Biographical Dictionary of British Makers of Stringed Instruments and Bows and a Critical Description of Their Work (R. Scott, 1920). archive.org, britishviolinmak0000wmer. https://archive.org/details/britishviolinmak0000wmer.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  3. Arnold Sewell, Dictionary of Violin makers (1928). archive.org, dictionaryofviol0000arno. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol0000arno.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  4. La lutherie et les luthiers (1889). archive.org, lalutherieetlesl00vida. https://archive.org/details/lalutherieetlesl00vida.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  5. Les ancêtres du violon et du violoncelle, les luthiers et les fabricants d’archets; (1901). archive.org, lesanctresduvi02gril. https://archive.org/details/lesanctresduvi02gril.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  6. Pearce, Joseph, Violins and violin makers. Biographical dictionary of the great Italian artistes, their followers and imitators, to the present time. With essays on important subjects connected with the violin (London: Longman and co.; Sheffield, J. Pearce, jun., 1866). archive.org, violinsviolinmak00pear. https://archive.org/details/violinsviolinmak00pear.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  7. the violin its famous makers and their imitators (1909). archive.org, violinitsfamousm0000geor. https://archive.org/details/violinitsfamousm0000geor.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  8. Hart, George, 1839-1891, The violin: its famous makers and their imitators (London: Dulau, 1909). archive.org, violinitsfamousm00hart. https://archive.org/details/violinitsfamousm00hart.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  9. The Violin: Its Famous Makers and their Imitators (1875). archive.org, bwb_W9-CSA-425. https://archive.org/details/bwb_W9-CSA-425.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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  10. Hart, George, 1839-1891. [from old catalog], The violin: its famous makers and their imitators (London, Dubau and co. [etc.], 1875). archive.org, violinitsfamous01hartgoog. https://archive.org/details/violinitsfamous01hartgoog.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

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