Jean Pierre Marie Persoit
ersois'' - (1782/83? in Mirecourt – after 1854) was a great and intriguing
French bowmaker or ''
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 ...
''.
One of the first bowmakers to be hired by the young
Jean Baptiste Vuillaume
Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (7 October 1798 – 19 March 1875) was a French luthier, businessman, inventor and winner of many awards. His workshop made over 3,000 instruments.
Early life
Vuillaume was born in Mirecourt, where his father and gr ...
.
Persoit seems to have worked in this studio for at least 15 years (1823–41 according to Millant; 1828–43 according to
Étienne Vatelot).
It nevertheless remains difficult to recognize his work under the Vuillaume stamp.
His best bows, are remarkably close to the
François Tourte
François Xavier Tourte (1747 – 25 April 1835) was a French bow maker who made a number of significant contributions to the development of the bow of stringed instruments, and is considered to be the most important figure in the development of ...
style (especially those with octagonal sticks), though there are small but telling differences:
the octagonals are not so sharply planed; the heads are rather more squared; the frogs are more solid and with shallower throats; and the distinctive buttons have unequally wide bands which cover most of the ebony.
Persoit’s round-shafted bows are more personal and generally bulkier than the Tourte ideal. Most are also slightly short.
His brand PRS is stamped on the stick under the frog and under the lapping, occasionally as many as three times, although sometimes not at all.
His work is only rarely seen today but much appreciated.
It is most likely that Persoit left Paris after 1854 either to retire or to be cared for.
"Some may not be aware that it was Persoit (Persois) who trained
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 ...
".
Gennady Filimonov
/ref>
Bibliography
*
References
*W.C. Retford: Bows and Bow Makers (London, 1964)
*R. Millant: J.B. Vuillaume: sa vie et son oeuvre (London, 1972)
*J. Liivoja-Lorius: ‘The Bows of Persois’, The Strad, xci (1980–81), 254–6
*
*
*
*
* Dictionnaire Universel del Luthiers - Rene Vannes 1951,1972, 1985 (vol.3)
* Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers
The ''Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers'' is a widely cited reference work providing information on approximately 9,000 violin makers. The work is based on the extensive notes of violinist and composer William Henley (1874-1957). Henley ...
- William Henley 1970
J. Liivoja-Lorius: ‘The Bows of Persois’, The Strad, xci (1980–81), 254–6
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persoit, Jean Pierre Marie
1782 births
1854 deaths
Bow makers
19th-century French people
Luthiers from Mirecourt