F. N. Voirin

Price range: 20-50'000.-

Exact price on request!

J.F. Raffin Certificate

Voirin, François Nicolas ( 1833 - 1885 ) in Paris, Voirin was a cousin of JB Vuillaume. F.N. Voirin was the brother of Joseph Voirin. He was known as the "Modern Tourte". Made violins first. Apprenticed in Mirecourt then worked in the workshop of Vuillaume at first ( 1855 until 1870 ). In fact his early bows were stamped with the name Vuillaume. He produced a radically different bow from Tourte; Slimmer head; the camber moved closer to head, yielding a stronger stick and reducing the thickness of the shaft especially at the heel. A very, perhaps too light ( as low as 52 gr. ) but strong stick. At around 1870 most French makers, inspired by Voirin were moving away from the Tourte-Peccatte school. These changes were not only to the head, which was now lighter, rounder and more feminine, but the camber curve is now concentrated in the third of the bow directly behind the head. (Before Voirin it was in the middle third of the bow.) Also with Voirin the heights of the head and frog were lower than had been made previously.

Voirin bows typically have a rounded bell-shaped head. Voirin was often tempted by English makers and dealers to work for them, but he always refused, saying his work belonged to his country. His bows are stamped F.N.Voirin. Voirin taught Charles Peccatte (1850 - 1920 son of François Peccatte). His followers were Alfred Lamy, Louis and Claude Thomassin and Charles N Bazin. After he died his wife carried on the business, often using his brand on his pupils' work. Francois Nicolas Voirin was the most skilled maker of his generation, one of the finest makers ever, and he produced a uniformly high quality product. But Voirin bows suffer from inconsistency with the quality of wood, and many of his bows were produced on a lighter, smaller model.

The best Voirin bows are exquisite playing tools; they are strong and nimble and produce a beautiful tone. These represent a relative bargain in the market place since (it is generally thought) the general price for Voirin has been held in check by their inconsistency in playability (not quality of workmanship - read more because of his fairly high number of light weight bows !). Voirin chose a style of bow which is extremely fine; his workmanship was of the highest quality. Bows were feminine, elegant precise and delicate. He had the elevated and inspired theme of emulating Tourte, in refined workmanship and elegance, but made a new departure by making the heads less square and reducing the weight. These delicately worked heads have a marked thinning of the two faces, and to preserve balance, he reduced the diameter of the lower end of stick, which is sometimes actually smaller than the accompanying tip. Sometimes he exaggerated this head tenuity, arrived at too light a weight, which brought weakness after a few months’ playing. c.1870 a Nicolas Vuillaume is branded Stentor (which is a typical brand name of the Nicolas Vuillaume workshop).