Fine French violin by Charles Gaillard

This fine French violin by Charles Gaillard is a veritable invitation to the workshop of a great French master who was one of the most outstanding luthiers of his generation. With its large and refined voice, it is a worthy choice as a concert instrument for professional musicians, and we offer this Gaillard violin at an unusually affordable price.

Like many 19th-century French violin makers, Charles Gaillard came from the musical village of Mirecourt. After his training with his father, Louis Gaillard, he– like other talented young luthiers – felt drawn to Paris, where he began working for Charles Adolphe Gand. It was in this workshop, where he eventually rose to become the director, that he found himself at the heart of one of the most significant centres of classic French violin making of his day. Thanks to his close collaboration with the son of the great Charles François Gand, Gaillard can be regarded as an heir to the Gand tradition. In his own workshop which he founded in 1851, Gaillard crafted masterpieces that to this day remain amongst the most sought-after French stringed instruments of the era. This Charles Gaillard violin shows its distinctive merits at first glance: a petite instrument, it was based on Gaillard‘s personal template and perfectly crafted to his masterful artisan standards using top-quality tone woods. Its luminous orange-brown varnish exquisitely harmonizes with the glossy golden-yellow base highlighting the magnificent tight flames of the one-piece maple back. The blackened edges of the lovingly crafted scroll are the finishing touch on the elegant aesthetic of this violin, which has been kept in very good condition. On the instrument’s top near the bass bar it has been excellently and professionally repaired in keeping with the musical and historic value of the violin. In the course of that repair, Gaillard‘s original label was apparently removed and re-attached with befitting respect. Professional musicians will find this violin to be a concert instrument with a mature, carrying sound at an appealing and unusually affordable price; its voice features a radiant fullness with a sophisticated silky character, even in the upper registers, and a rich breadth of timbre.