Fine French violin, Joseph Laurent Mast, Toulouse, 1826 (Certificate J.-J. Rampal)

This fine French master violin is the work of a mature master's experienced hand and communicates a unique balance of the finest musical and aesthetic properties. It shows that its maker, we think Jean-Laurent Mast in Toulouse, was, in equal measure, faithful to the classic Mirecourt violin making tradition and independent of it. Trained by Didier Nicolas, one of the most successful masters and entrepreneurs of his day in Mirecourt, Joseph Laurent Mast sought his fortune ― for reasons unknown ― not in his hometown in the Vosges mountains but at the foot of the Pyrenees, where he settled in Toulouse in 1807. The instrument presented here was created around 20 years after Mast established his workshop and serves as a glance at the interim phase of its creator's development; Mast went on to spend another 10 years in the city he chose as his home. The violin’s top-quality tone woods with interesting grain illustrate both Jean-Laurent Mast's sensitivity in choosing his materials as well as the fact that he had a well-sorted selection of woods to draw upon, as should be the case at a well-run workshop. The wonderful one-piece back is a sophisticated and magnificently executed piece of attractively flamed maple which articulates Jean-Laurent Mast's refine stylistic sense just as much as the lovingly crafted scroll does. Offered crackfree in perfect condition this fine violin shows many traces of use by good musicians who apparently played it often and performed challenging literature. Our luthiers carefully set up the violin and made it ready to play so that its truly beautiful rich sound with its rich overtones can present multi-facetted musical options with intense resonance, size and particular warmth in the lower registers. The price includes a certificate by J.-J. Rampal.