Nicolas Maline (28 February 1822 – 28 April 1877 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. G ...

) was a

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

and an archetier/bow maker. He was apprenticed in

and worked for Etienne Pajeot, J.B. Vuillaume and other makers. Maline came from a family of luthiers including his father Guillaume Maline (long considered to be the bowmaking Maline). In his early work, Maline initially followed the Pajeot example/style, but later in his career followed a very different direction on the basis of what was soon to happen 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 ...

(D. Peccatte's influence with the "hatchet-shaped" type head). Nicolas Maline came as a very young man to

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 gra ...

, around 1840. Most of Maline's best work was sold by the firm of VUILLAUME and bears the latter's brand. His bows of this period reflect 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" typ ...

school ("hatchet-shaped" type head). He also made some self-rehairing bows, but also many bows using VUILLAUME-style frogs (round-edged ferrules). According to

Bernard Millant Bernard Millant (1929 – 5 April 2017) was a bow maker, archetier and luthier in Paris, France. He was the son of Max Millant. He studied violin making at Amédée Dieudonné's workshop in Mirecourt. He also studied bowmaking with Louis Morizot ...

and Jean-François Raffin, N. Maline certainly was first to use this style. "One of history's important bowmakers. His successor was

François Nicolas Voirin François Nicolas Voirin (1833–1885) was a French archetier ( bowmaker), known in his time as the "Modern Tourte." F.N. Voirin (the son of a gardener) was born in Paris France, the brother of Joseph Voirin (also a talented bowmaker) and cousin ...

. Maline's bows are among the most recognizable of the finest 19th century French bows."
Filimonov Fine Violins

References

* Les Luthiers Parisiens aux XIX et XX siecles Tom 3 "Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume et sa famille -

Sylvette Milliot ''Sylvette'' is a large concrete sculpture created by Pablo Picasso and the Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, which was erected in the city of Rotterdam in 1970. It is located on the corner of Westersingel next to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Th ...

2006 * Violins & Bows - Jost Thoene 2006 * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maline, Nicolas 1822 births 1877 deaths Bow makers 19th-century French people Luthiers from Mirecourt