Bow & Bridge

Silva

As printed

  1. A dictionary of violin makers (1896)

    Silva, Joan Vieira da. Was working in Lisbon about 1700. A cither is known of his, inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory, with six pairs of wire strings.

    scan page 90, line 12See the scan

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    scan page 90, line 12

    1. Siani, Valentino. Said to have lived in Florence in the 17th century.
    2. Siciliano (Ciciliano), Antonio. A maker in Venice about 1600. A tenor and a bass viola da gamba are in the Modena Museum, Vienna.
    3. Siciliano, Gioacchino, son of Antonio Siciliano. Was working in Venice about 1680.
    4. Silva, Joan Vieira da. Was working in Lisbon about 1700. A cither is known of his, inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory, with six pairs of wire strings.
    5. Silvestre, Hippolyte, b. Dec. 14, 1808, Saint-Nicolas-du-Port (Meurthe); d. Dec. 3, 1879, Sommerville, near Nancy. Was first a pupil of Blaise at Mirecourt, then of J. B. Vuillaume at Paris. In 1831 he joined his brother Pierre at Lyons, and worked with him till 1848. On the death of Pierre in 1859 he again took up the business, and continued in it till 1865, when he transferred it to H. Chrétien, his sister's son, and retired to Sommerville, where he died.
    6. Silvestre, Pierre, brother of Hippolyte; b. Aug. 9, 1801, at Sommerville, near Nancy; d. 1859, Lyons. Was also a pupil of Blaise at Mirecourt, then went to Paris, first working under Lupot and then under Gand. In 1829 he founded the business in Lyons. Hippolyte was in partnership with him, 1831-48; he afterwards continued the business alone until his death in 1859. He copied the pattern of Stradivari with great ability; his instruments are always handsome, owing to the beautiful quality of the wood used, and their tone is often remarkably good; the varnish is very fine and the work most carefully finished, consequently they are increasing in commercial value. It is said he made about 350 instruments, bearing his label: "Pierre Silvestre à Lyon, 185—." When working with his brother, the label used was: "Petrus et Hippolytus Silvestre fratres fecerunt Lugdun … 183—." Bronze medals were obtained at the Paris Exhibitions in 1844 and 1855.
    7. Silvestre neveu. See "Chrétien."

  2. A dictionary of violin makers (n.d.)

    Silva, Joan Vieira da. Was working in Lisbon about 1700. A cither is known of his, inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory, with six pairs of wire strings.

    scan page 92, line 13; scan page 92, line 23See the scans: 92, 92source record

    Read the transcript line

    This is what the software read off the scan, not the page itself. The cited line is marked, and three lines either side are shown for context.

    scan page 92, line 13

    1. Siani, Valentino. Said to have lived in Florence in the 17th century.
    2. Siciliano (Ciciliano), Antonio. A maker in Venice about 1600. A tenor and a bass viola da gamba are in the Modena Museum, Vienna.
    3. Siciliano, Gioacchino, son of Antonio Siciliano. Was working in Venice about 1680.
    4. Silva, Joan Vieira da. Was working in Lisbon about 1700. A cither is known of his, inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory, with six pairs of wire strings.
    5. Silvestre, Hippolyte, b. Dec. 14, 1808, Saint-Nicolas-du-Port (Meurthe); d. Dec. 3, 1879, Sommerville, near Nancy. Was first a pupil of Blaise at Mirecourt, then of J. B. Vuillaume at Paris. In 1831 he joined his brother Pierre at Lyons, and worked with him till 1848. On the death of Pierre in 1859 he again took up the business, and continued in it till 1865, when he transferred it to H. Chrétien, his sister's son, and retired to Sommerville, where he died.
    6. Silvestre, Pierre, brother of Hippolyte; b. Aug. 9, 1801, at Sommerville, near Nancy; d. 1859, Lyons. Was also a pupil of Blaise at Mirecourt, then went to Paris, first working under Lupot and then under Gand. In 1829 he founded the business in Lyons. Hippolyte was in partnership with him, 1831-48; he afterwards continued the business alone until his death in 1859. He copied the pattern of Stradivari with great ability, his instruments are always handsome, owing to the beautiful quality of the wood used, and their tone is often remarkably good; the varnish is very fine and the work most carefully finished, consequently they are increasing in commercial value. It is said he made about 350 instruments bearing his label: "Pierre Silvestre à Lyon, 185—" When working with his brother the label used was: Petrus et Hippolytus Silvestre frères fecerunt Lugdun . 183—" Bronze medals were obtained at the Paris Exhibitions in 1844 and 1855.
    7. Silvestre neveu See "Chrétien."

Named in 2 books, all printed 1896. Read by software from scans of those pages, not yet checked by a person against the page. Entries from 2 books stand under this name, and the software judged them near-certain the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record.

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Details and sources

Record note

Printed in A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1890); A dictionary of violin makers (1896), and nowhere else on this site: that is the entire basis of this maker’s record. Entries from 2 books stand under this name, and the software judged them near-certain the same person. Tell us if that is wrong and we will split the record. No claim beyond the printed naming is invented here — not established is the accurate word for it, and we want to hear from you if that can change.

What the books say

Places and dates of work
Silva, Joan Vieira da. Was working in Lisbon about 1700. A cither is known of his, inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory, with six pairs of wire strings. reported1
Places and dates of work
Silva, Joan Vieira da. Was working in Lisbon about 1700. A cither is known of his, inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory, with six pairs of wire strings. reported1
Places and dates of work
Silva, Joan Vieira da. Was working in Lisbon about 1700. A cither is known of his, inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory, with six pairs of wire strings. reported1

How the pages were read

3 of the 3 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. 1 of them rests on a section heading above a list of names, not on a trade word printed on its own line: “A DICTIONARY OF VIOLIN 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 2 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. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 92, line 23

  2. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London: Novello, n.d.). archive.org, dictionaryofviol1899stai. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol1899stai.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 92, line 13

  3. Stainer, C. (Cecie), 1867-1937, A dictionary of violin makers (London ; New York: Novello, Ewer, 1896). archive.org, dictionaryofviol00stai_0. https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofviol00stai_0.machine textcited for 1 linesource record

    scan page 90, line 12