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Scan 168
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 154. See the scan on archive.org.
1post, the adjustment of the pegs, and the choosing and mounting of the strings. Had there been more of his type during the hundred years that preceded his busy life, the world would probably now have, uninjured, as many thousands of genuine Cremonese violins as there are at present fifties.
3Between the years 1800 and 1840 many violin makers in France attained celebrity. Among the most notable were the following: Pierre and Hippolyte Silvestre, the former born at Sommerwiller in 1801, and the latter at St. Nicolas du Port in 1808. These two brothers acquired a knowledge of their business under a maker in Mirecourt, named Blaise, and afterwards went to Paris. Pierre was at first employed there by Nicolas Lupot, and afterwards by Gand, who succeeded to Lupot's business. Hippolyte entered the service of J. B. Vuillaume, who by this time was also established, but who will be referred to separately. In 1829 the two brothers commenced on their own account in Lyons. Hippolyte retired in 1848, and Pierre died in 1859, the business being then managed by one Pichon, and afterwards by Hippolyte Silvestre the younger. In 1865 Hippolyte Chrétien, a nephew, and also a violin maker, took over the concern, and the firm became "Hippolyte Chrétien, Silvestre Neveu." While the founders, Pierre and Hippolyte, were partners, they made many instruments, which bear the inscription, "Petrus et Hippolytus Silvestre, fratres fecerunt Lugdun (Lyons)," and from 1848, when Pierre alone remained, he signed "Pierre Silvestre à Lyon." The violins by the latter are reckoned the best, and are distinguished by careful workmanship and excellent choice in the
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