IV British
William Addison — Thomas Cole — Edward Pamphilon — Pemberton — Thomas Urquhart — Christopher Wise
This group represents the early English school and the principal makers existing during the seventeenth century. It may reasonably be inferred that they were more at home with the viol than with the violin as known to-day. Little can be said concerning their early productions, as they are now all but extinct; a great portion of them probably perished in the great fire of London in 1666, in which city some of them were supposed to have worked.
Christopher Wise is said to have made some fairly good instruments of a highly decorative nature.
Jacob Rayman was the better artist, and some instruments attributed to him reflect great credit on this early school.
Thomas Urquhart was a still further advance, his outline and varnish places him in the front rank of the period.
Edward Pamphilon made instruments of a very tubby appearance, but they are said to possess a clear and penetrating tone; age, too, has imparted a very rich colouring to the varnish.
Several other names have been handed down, but as they are minus the instruments, nothing of importance can be said on the subject.
Aldred and Bolles are mentioned in Mace’s “Musick’s Monument.”
ADDISON, WILLIAM, was a maker of viols and early violins in the middle of the seventeenth century. He worked in Moorfields, London.
AIRETON, EDMUND. A London maker about the middle of the eighteenth century. He copied successively the instruments of Stainer, Amati and Stradivarius, but those on the Amati model are most admired.
BANKS FAMILY. They rank among the best makers of English violins, and genuine specimens are eagerly sought after and realise good prices.
BANKS, BENJAMIN. Born July 14, 1727, died February 18, 1795. Accounts differ as to the place of his birth, but as his parents were living in Salisbury in the year 1725, it is generally supposed he was born in that town.
Banks has been justly termed “the English Amati,” and this comparison is well deserved. His fiddles are faithful copies of the great Italian, both as to model and varnish. These instruments are, however, very rare, and fiddles of this model offered as genuine Benjamins should only be purchased with the advice of experts.
Benjamin also made instruments for the then well-known music-firm of Longman and Broderip in London. These were made on a different model, somewhat after the Stainer model, and they are greatly inferior to his favourite Amati fiddles, the finish and varnish indicate hurry and carelessness. These fiddles are labelled with the name of the firm for whom he worked. I have seen many fiddles bearing the name of Longman and Broderip and said to have been made by Benjamin Banks. The majority of them are, however, spurious. It has been the custom of many dealers to cut off the name of Longman and Broderip from the bottom of the published music of that firm and insert these in fiddles, and as Benjamin Banks was known to have worked for them, some show of genuineness is thereby implied.
Banks made a number of violas and violoncellos. The latter instruments stand pre-eminent for workmanship and tone and are particularly well adapted for the performance of solo and chamber music. This maker adopted a variety of methods for stamping and otherwise labelling his instruments. Below the button was the favourite place.
The labels mostly seen are:
Made by Benjamin Banks, Catherine Street, Salisbury.
Benjamin Banks, fecit Salisbury.
Benjamin Banks, Musical Instrument Maker, In Catherine Street, Salisbury.
B. Banks, Sarum. “B. B.” stamped under the button.
The varnish used by Banks varied from a deep red to a yellow brown.
One word of advice, beware of the unredeemed pledge.
BANKS, BENJAMIN. Son of the preceding; born at Salisbury, 1754, died in Liverpool, 1820. He worked at first for his renowned father, afterwards removing to London, where, possibly, he assisted in making the Longman and Broderip instruments. He then went to Liverpool and worked there until his death. Very little is known of him or his works, though it is possible that many of his instruments have been passed off as the work of his father.
BANKS, JAMES and HENRY, two other sons of the great Benjamin, and successors to the business at Salisbury, where they were both born, James about 1756, died 1831; Henry, 1770, died 1830.
James was the violin maker of the concern, while Henry devoted himself to tuning pianofortes and repairing instruments. Sometimes, however, they collaborated in the production of violins and violoncellos. They also extended the sphere of their operations to music selling and dealt in other musical instruments. The fame of the Banks family as violin makers declined at this period.
BARRETT, JOHN. A London maker, who worked about 1725. He made some good instruments which are dated from the Harp and Crown in Piccadilly. He followed the Stainer model. His varnish is unsatisfactory.
BETTS, JOHN, London, born at Stamford in 1755, died 1823. This excellent maker was a pupil of Duke, and adopted the Amati model. He was not himself a prolific maker, his time being principally occupied in the study of old Italian instruments, the result of which enabled him to become a very successful dealer and connoisseur. Betts, or “old John,” as he was most commonly called, carried on an extensive business in the construction of violins, and employed in his workshop such men as John Carter, Edward Betts, Panormo, Bernhard Fendt, all of whom subsequently succeeded in making good instruments on their own account. Betts’s shop was No. 2 near Northgate of the Royal Exchange, and after his death the business was continued by his descendants till within a few years ago.
DUKE, RICHARD, London, about 1765-1791. Probably no violin of English make has attained such popularity as have the instruments of this maker, hence it is that he is so extensively imitated. Who instructed him in the art of making violins, etc., is not positively known, but his instruments are of the highest order in all respects but the varnish, in which he was not always successful. Duke followed both the Stainer and Amati models, the latter being his best. His violoncellos are rather high in model, long in pattern, yellowish varnish and rich in tone. For his violins he used a dull brown varnish, very elastic and transparent. During a considerable period Duke worked in the vicinity of Holborn. Many of his instruments are stamped near the button “Duke, London.”
Labels, mostly written in pen and ink, are as follows:
Richd. Duke, Londini, fecit 1767.
Richard Duke, Maker, Holborn, London, Anno 1777.
The following is a copy of a printed one:
“Richard Duke, Maker, near opposite Great Turn-Stile, Holbourn, London.”
FENDT, BERNHARD, born at Inspruck, in the Tyrol, in 1756, died in London in 1832. He was at first instructed in the art of violin making by his uncle in Paris, who spelt his name Fent, a maker there of some reputation. Bernhard then came to London and entered the service of Thomas Dodd, the bow maker, and remained with him several years, working in conjunction with John Frederick Lott. They were never entrusted to carry their work beyond the white, and the instruments turned out by this pair were delivered to their master, who applied the varnish with his own hand, the secret of which he kept carefully to himself.
FORSTER, WILLIAM, known as “Old” Forster, born at Brampton, Cumberland, May, 1739, died in London, December 14, 1808. The name of Forster in connection with violin making includes a family whose operation extended over a very considerable period, but the artist under notice was the fiddle maker of the group, and his instruments to-day reflect great credit on the British school of a century ago; indeed his instruments, whether they be violins, violas or violoncellos, are pre-eminent amongst the productions of this country. His father pursued two occupations, viz., that of spinning-wheel maker and violin maker and repairer; instructions in which handicrafts were duly imparted to the son, who also became tolerably proficient as a violinist. In consequence of some family differences, the young man quitted his native village and proceeded to London, arriving there in 1759. His first endeavours in the metropolis were unsuccessful, and he was forced to accept some employment offered him by a gun-stock maker. However, he did not forsake the art he loved, and his spare time was occupied in making violins, which he disposed of to the music shops. During this time he suffered great hardship and privation, the effects of which were never afterwards entirely eradicated. At length he obtained employment as a violin maker at a music shop on Tower Hill kept by one Beck, and the violins he made during his two years’ engagement there, gaining much recognition, he not unnaturally demanded an advance in wages. This was refused, and Forster consequently left him. In 1762 he commenced business on his own account at a house in Duke’s Court, and there his artistic abilities procured for him the attention and patronage of the musical dilettanti. He then moved into St. Martin’s Lane, and added music publishing and selling to his business, and at this period he was wont to cut his name from the title-pages of his soiled or unsold music and use it as a ticket for his instruments. In 1781 he entered into negotiations with Haydn for the supply and publication of certain pieces of music for the string family, which resulted, it would appear, in a great success all round. About 1784, Forster opened in the Strand—No. 348, and here the climax of his success was attained, even to the extent of receiving Royal patronage. From the year 1762 to 1770 he adopted the Stainer model, and applied to his instruments some sort of dark stain, completing the operation with a coat of varnish. From 1770 or thereabouts he affected the Amati pattern with greater success, and this refers particularly to his violoncellos, as they are really grand instruments, better varnish is used and greater attention is paid to detail. Robert Lindley, the famous violoncellist, used one of Forster’s instruments at the Italian Opera for nearly forty years; he named it “The Eclipse.” Crossdill had a famous one, and Cervette the younger had another. Only four double basses are known to have been made by William Forster. His commoner instruments are devoid of purfling. Ticket: “William Forster. Violin Maker in St. Martin’s Lane, London.”
FORSTER, WILLIAM, son of “Old” Forster. Born 1764, died 1824. He was a violin maker and repairer of some merit, but never attained the reputation of his father. He left his instruments unpurfled.
KENNEDY, ALEXANDER, came from Scotland about 1700 and established himself in London, He was a painstaking workman, and gained a good reputation. He followed the Stainer model and used a light amber varnish.
KENNEDY, JOHN, nephew and pupil of the foregoing, followed the same model, and produced some good violins and tenors.
KENNEDY, THOMAS, the best known of the family. He made a large number of violins and ’cellos.
NORMAN, BARAK (1688-1740). He was chiefly a maker of viols, but has made violas and violoncellos, and a few violins on the Stainer model; his best productions being copies of Maggini. He was probably a pupil of Urquhart, if one may judge from their respective works. As a maker of viols he was much esteemed in his day; all his instruments of this class indicate careful workmanship. As no British violoncello has been discovered anterior to those manufactured by Norman, it is thought that he may have been the first maker of that instrument in this country. They are splendid instruments and much valued. His violas also are fine specimens, and consequently highly prized by performers on that instrument. Between the years 1715 and 1720 Barak Norman entered into partnership with one Nathaniel Cross, at the sign of the “Bass Viol,” St. Paul’s Churchyard. Barak resorted to various methods in order to distinguish his instruments, sometimes his monogram is purfled in the centre of the back, and occasionally, in the case of violoncellos, on the top table under the wide part of the finger-board. When he became associated with Cross, the joint monogram was used. The following is a copy of a printed label used by the firm:
“Barak Norman and Nathaniel Cross, at the Bass Viol in St. Paul’s Churchyard, London, fecit 172—.”
WAMSLEY, PETER, London (1727-1760). He was at one time considered a clever maker of violas and violoncellos, but having resorted to the unfortunate practice of thinning the wood in his endeavour to secure a freer tone, his instruments at the present day lack power and sonority. They are, however, capable of great improvement in the hands of a skilful repairer. He adopted the Stainer model, and at times proved himself to be a first-class workman. Most of his instruments have only ink lines instead of purfling. Wamsley made a few double basses, but they are now very scarce. The best instruments of this maker are those covered with a dark brown varnish. For a great number of years Wamsley carried on business in Piccadilly, and used labels, copies of which are as follows:
Made by Peter Wamsley at the Harp and Hautboy in Pickadilly, 1735.
Peter Wamsley Maker at the Harp and Hautboy in Piccadilly, 17 London 51.