Pierre Silvestre, French Violin, Lyon, c.1834

A super violin from this renowned French master luthier. Silvestre trained in the great violin making centre of Mirecourt and subsequently worked in Paris for some of the most famous violin houses in that city. He set-up his own workshop in Lyon in 1829, later working with his brother, Hippolyte, for over a decade and again, independently from 1848 until his death in 1859.

The beautiful back plate is of one striking piece of medium, regularly flamed maple with the figure running horizontally; the sides and head are of similar wood; the top plate of two pieces of predominantly wide spaced grain; the varnish of a dark red-brown over a golden ground, now shaded and worn in a handsome aged patina. (Images to follow)

Coming on the market now, for the first time in probably around fifty years, this violin would be ideally suited to the professional player or advanced student looking for the instrument of a lifetime.

Reference: VN.1366