François Nicolas Voirin

François Nicolas Voirin (1833-1885) was born in Mirecourt and began his bowmaking apprenticeship at the age of 12 under Jean Simon. In 1855, he moved to Paris where he joined the work shop of Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. While employed by Vuillaume, Voirin was in charge of the production of the most decorated bows produced by the firm, including ivory, tortoiseshell, and gold mounted bows. He was also responsible for training and controlling production of the apprectices at the shop. In 1870, Voirin left to open his own shop, soon after hiring Louis Thomassin and Joseph-Alfred Lamy as employees. He died in 1885 while traveling to the Gand & Bernadel firm to show his latest bows.

 

This particular example is branded F.N. VOIRIN A PARIS and features a round pernambuco stick with an ivory tip plate and black leather grip. The frog is ebony fully mounted in silver, with pearl slide, pearl eyes, and silver/ebony octagonal button. This frog is a modern replacement crafted by Yung Chin of NYC and is paired with the original button. 142g

 

This bow is featured on page 48 of Chris Brown's book, Discovering Bows for the Double Bass.