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Scan 170
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
2 lines. Read by computer on 30 September 2026. Printed page 156. See the scan on archive.org.
1employed by Gand, whose principal man he soon became. He remained twelve years in this employ, and in 1838 commenced on his own account in the Faubourg Poissonnière, where he continued his indefatigable industry for nineteen years. He then retired to Mirecourt (1857), having acquired a small competency by his labour, but still occupied himself in the repair of old instruments—in which work he is said to have been without a rival in Europe—down to his death, which took place in 1871. He excelled also in the manufacture of new violins, and appears to have been highly esteemed for the rectitude of his character and the gentleness of his disposition. He distinguished himself at three Paris exhibitions, and one of his tickets runs, "Claude Victor Rambaux, Breveté à Paris, 1846, C.V.R." Another of this distinguished group, Sebastien Philippe Bernardel, was born in 1802, in Mirecourt, where he was apprenticed. He went to Paris in 1820, and was first employed by Nicolas Lupot, and afterwards by François Gand. In 1826 he began for himself, and continued alone until 1859, when he took his two sons into partnership, and the firm became "Bernardel et Fils." The violins made by the father are described as of first-class quality, both in finish and tone. His tickets, at first, are wholly in manuscript, but are afterwards printed with his sign-manual appended at the bottom. He left a great number of instruments, and was especially successful in his violoncellos. In 1866 he retired, and died in 1870. The sons then entered into partnership with Eugène Gand, and the firm became "Gand et Bernardel Frères," which it is still.
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