A Guitar by Etienne Perrin fils, Mirecourt
By Kenneth Sparr
2007-07-18
Updated
2015-05-25
The
following pictures (kindly supplied by Chase Morrison) show a guitar which I
bought from USA. It has some interesting features and my hypothesis is that
this guitar was imported to USA from France in the early 19th century and later
was transformed and changed c. 1830-1850.
"E
PERRIN FILS A MIRECOURT" is branded on the inside of the back.
The guitar is simple in design but with a lovely
figured reddish maple on back and sides. The interior shows a typical French
design in barring etc. The design around the sound hole and the soundboard is
similar to early French guitars by François Lupot and Jean-François Aldric, the
latter also with connection to Mirecourt. The frets are metal, but not T-shaped
like on modern guitars. The guitar is kept in its original (?) wooden coffin
case. The guitar has several damages and has been repaired several times during
its life.
The basis for my hypothesis that this guitar came from
France to the USA in the early 19th century and later was changed is the
following:
- the branded name indicates clearly that the guitar
was made in Mirecourt by E. Perrin fils
- the guitar has many typical French features of the
early 19th century: body size, body outline, barring of soundboard
- the guitar has some features that are not French:
the extended fingerboard (normally the fingerboards of French guitars were
flush with the soundboard), the bridge and the head
- the bridge and the head are similar to American
guitars of the mid 1850s (Martin, Martin & Coupa c. 1840). However, the
head clearly differs in both its proportions and in the way the head is joined
to the neck. The traditional Martin "diamond" which supports the glue
joint is missing and the way the backside is cut is quite unlike Martin´s
style. The conical "heel" at the neck - body joint is also more crude
in style than Martin's work. At that time, there were many others working
in the USA who used Martin as a model.
This guitar has been restored at the Carl Malmsten
Centre of Wood Technology & Design, Department of guitar making as a
project in a course for repairing and restoring of plucked instruments. The
work has been supervised by Nicola Nerstršm, master guitar maker and head of
the department. A decision was made to restore the guitar to its last change
and to make it playable. The changes to the instrument have been as few as
possible. A report on and a documentation of the restoring process has been
made by Mats Nordwall:
Restoration
of a plucked string instrument TMTR08 - Guitar by Perrin fils a Mirecourt 
Restaurering
av knŠppinstrument TMTR08 - Gitarr av Perrin fils a Mirecourt (in Swedish)
The
restored guitar in its original (?) coffin case
E.
Perrin fils
LŸtgendorff
says in his dictionary: "Perrin,
fils, E. - Mirecourt. 1840. Gute Firma, die
in ihren Geigen oft auch Paris als Ursprungsort nennt. Die Instrumente haŸen
grosses Patron, gutes Holz und einen orangefarbigen Lack."
Vannes
gives some more information: "PERRIN, Etienne, nŽ ‡ Mirecourt vers 1785 -
Il ne nous est connu que par un violon , vernis alcool, marquŽ en fer en forme
de triangle: E. PERRIN & FILS A MIRECOURT."
Poidras
gives the following information in his Dictionnaire: "PERRIN - Mirecourt fin XVIIIe sicle. Les violons
portant la marque au fer ÒPerrinÓ ou ÒPerrin filsÓ son lgions. D'aprŽs la
facture et le vernis jaune qui la pare, cette lutherie appartient ˆ la
catgorie ordinaire de Mirecourt de cette Žpoque."
In one
of Sotheby's catalogues the following item is described: "121 A Violin by
E.J. Perrin fils, Mirecourt, circa 1850. Branded
internally E. Perrin, fils, the one-piece back of irregular narrow curl
ascending from left to right, the ribs of narrow curl, the head of medium to
narrow curl, the table of medium grain opening out towards the treble flanks,
the varnish of an orange-brown colour, length of back 14 5/16 in. (36.3. cm)
£1,000-1,500". Another violin by Perrin, dated 1789 (cf. Vannes' birth
date for Etienne Perrin), is in a museum in Canada.
Another
guitar by this maker is kept at the Staatliches Institut fŸr Musikforschung,
Musikinstrumentenmuseum in Berlin. This guitar is branded "E. PERRIN /
FILS" and has the inventory number 5110. This guitar has undergone
restoration work in the museum by Heidi von RŸden. I have exchanged measurements
and images with Heidi von RŸden and the similarities between the two
Perrin-guitars are obvious.
A third guitar has the following branded on the
inside of the back: " E. PERRIN / FILS / A PARIS" in a private
collection is in very good and original condition. As was common among
Mirecourt builders they sometimes stamped their instrument with Paris evne if
they never left Mirecourt. The Paris address may have added more prestige!
A fourth guitar also in a private collection is said
to be marked "E. Perrin". This guitar has probably been heavily
changed
Ricardo Guida from C—rdoba, Argentine, has generously provided
information about a violoncello with the following branded on the inside of the
back:
E PERRIN FILS / A PARYS”. This confirms that E. Perrin also worked in
Paris. Here are some other pictures of this violoncello:
The pictures are kindly supplied by Ricard Guida.
I'm grateful to John Huber, Heidi von RŸden, Sinier de Ridder who has given valuable information about this guitar.
If you may have further information please contact
© Kenneth Sparr