violin
Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume
built in Paris in ± 1860
The “Frans Mortelmans Violin II,” made by Jean Baptiste Vuilluame, Paris, ca. 1860. Stradivarius model.
History of this instrument
This violin was purchased in 2002 by the Musical Instrument Fund through a dealer following a thorough comparison of eight violins from the Netherlands and abroad. The purchase was made possible entirely by the Frans Mortelmans Foundation. This is the second violin that was acquired thanks to this foundation, which explains the name “Frans Mortelmans Violin II.” The violin was initially played by Lisanne Soeterbroek. Since 2009, it was played by Nora van der Stelt, who returned it in 2015. Piotr Jasiurkowski and Sara Oates succeeded her. The Parisian violin is currently in the hands of Salomé Bonnema.
About the builder Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume
In September 1867, ten years before his death, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume wrote about the violins, violas, and cellos he had submitted that year to the Great Exhibition in Paris; “I exhibited two quartets that embody everything I know, in...
