Jean-Jacques Millant (1928–1998) was an influential French bow maker/

archetier A bow maker is a person who builds, repairs, and restores ancient or modern bows for bowed string instruments. These include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, viola d'amore, viola da gamba, etc. The French word for bowmaker (bow maker) is ...

(French word for maker of string family bows) of the

Dominique Peccatte Dominique Peccatte (15 July 1810 – 13 January 1874) was a French luthier and above all a renowned bow maker. He was apprenticed in Mirecourt and later worked with Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. He is notable for adapting the "hatchet-shaped" ty ...

school. His cousin,

Bernard Millant Bernard Millant (1929 – 5 April 2017) was a bow maker, archetier and luthier in Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than ...

(born 1929) produced bows similar in style. Millant, son of violin maker Roger Millant, was apprenticed in

Mirecourt Mirecourt () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mirecourt is known for lace-making and the manufacture of musical instruments, particularly those of the Violin family. Inhabitants are called Mirecurtiens. ...

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

, France by the Morizot Brothers from 1946–1948, then worked with his uncle, Roger and Max Millant in Paris until 1950, after which he opened his own shop in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1970, Millant was awarded the title Un de Meilleurs Ouvriers de France. His bows, which are strongly influenced by François Peccatte and

, quickly enjoyed great esteem among the most highly demanding professionals. Millant made excellent playing bows (following the Peccatte pattern). ''Millant bows function much as good facsimile Peccattes. The combination of choice of materials, weight, strength, and flexibility make them excellent playing tools, and bows by this maker are becoming increasingly desirable in the market today and are sought after by top professionals.'' - Stefan Hersh "Jean-Jacques Millant is considered one of the most important bowmakers of the latter part of the 20th century".
Gennady Filimonov

References

* * * * * * * Brueckner, Daniel - The Golden Bows / Der Goldbogen 2000 Edition Erwin Bochinsky. 1928 births 1998 deaths Bow makers Luthiers from Paris {{France-music-bio-stub