Lodewich Willem Joannes Roumen was born in Maastricht in, 1777. We have no record of his training in the craft but he was known to have lived in various cities and influences include early Cuypers violins and those of the French school. He settled in Amsterdam around the time this violin was made and opened a ‘music shop’ selling all manner of musical instruments and sheet music as was common at the time. He retired to Kampen in 1843 leaving the running of the business to his son, Joannes, who is also recorded as a violin maker.

The back plate is of one piece of narrow flamed maple, the sides and head are of similar wood, the top plate is also of one piece of predominantly wide grained spruce. The varnish has stood up to time really well, it is of a light gold over a gold ground and now has an attractive aged patina. A very similar Roumen violin can be seen in the book ‘400 Year Violinmaking in the Netherlands’.

A super violin from the Low Countries, full of character with a sound and ease of playing that would suit the advanced amateur, advanced student, or professional player looking to upgrade. It is fitted up to our ‘master’ level with Evah Pirazzi Gold strings.

Reference: VN.1343