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Scan 268
Violin tone and violin makers, 1916
6 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 246. See the scan on archive.org.
1but generally rather weak looking. Some magnificent violoncellos are known, and he is said to have excelled in double basses. The tone of Seraphin's violins is sometimes disappointing. Some specimens handled by the writer, however, have left little to complain of on that score. He branded his work under the tail pin, and used large ornamentally engraved labels. A nephew named George Seraphin, who also branded his instruments, seems to have worked at about the same time.
3SERDET, PAUL.—Paris. Born Mirecourt, 1858. A well-known dealer and judge of old instruments and a fine workman. Was a pupil of the excellent maker Gaillard.
5SILVESTRE, PIERRE.—Lyons. Born 1801. Died 1859. His work is distinguished by superb finish, and the tone of the instruments is of excellent quality. In this country they now command high prices. Most of them are of Stradivari build, but occasionally Amati or Guarneri copies are met with. The varnish on many of them is a fine red of much brilliance and excellent quality. The widths of his Strad copies are a trifle greater than those of the originals. The purfling, generally rather narrow, is inserted with unsurpassable neatness. Moreover, he did not "mature" his wood by artificial means as did J. B. Vuillaume for a considerable period. After leaving his instructor (Blaise of Mirecourt, q.v.) he worked for a time with Lupot, and with Gand, his successor. He began business in Lyons in 1829, and from 1831 to 1848 was in partnership with his younger brother, Hippolyte. The instruments bearing the joint labels of the brothers are well made, but by no means up to the standard of those made by Pierre alone. Their
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