SALE Justin Derazey workshop, excellent French violin around 1880

This expressive French Justin Derazey workshop violin gives us an authentic look at the work of the influential luthier Justin Derazey when he was at the zenith of his artisanal and entrepreneurial development. The son and student of a long-time Vuillaume employee, the award-winning Jean-Joseph Honoré Derazey, Justin had taken over his father's workshop in 1879, one year before this violin was crafted. In doing so, he also took on the legacy of the famous workshop of Joseph Nicolas fils, which not only provided him an endless supply of excellent aged tone woods from Transylvania and higher altitudes in Switzerland; it also offered him a well-established brand. He sold his employees' instruments with model labels such as the violin offered here bears a Justin Derazey label, where a broad Stradivari model was followed whilst also exhibiting highly evolved and sophisticated craftsmanship: the moderately grained spruce of the top and the deep flames of the maple used for the two-piece back were used to create a body with well-balanced resonant properties. The scroll is an elegant carving that features an eloquent and very distinctive Justin Derazey style. The luminous golden-brown varnish shows extensive traces of a long musical history and intense playing; over the years it has developed a magnificent patina that shapes the antique aesthetic of this attractive violin, a piece with some optical flaws to the back and a small repair but structurally in outstanding condition. At our workshop we have thoroughly set it up and made it ready to play so that this Justin Derazy workshop violin can reach the fullest extent of its powerful, mature sound – a clear and nuanced voice that sings in the finest French violin-making tradition. Like all our instruments and bows, this includes our trade-in guarantee and an optional certificate of appraisal.