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François Lotte

*1889 , Mirecourt      †1970 , Mirecourt

From the moment the bow maker François Lotte returned from captivity, he went by the nickname KG. He had earned it because he had been held in a German internment camp; it was the abbreviation for “krijgsgevangene” (prisoner of war). That captivity had actually been his good fortune; more than 275 men from Mirecourt, François Lotte’s hometown, had not survived the trenches of World War I or had returned wounded. Among them were many violin makers and bow makers. His internment had merely interrupted his long career; after the war, he resumed his work as a bow maker just as productively as before. He would continue to make bows until he was 81—longer than any other known bow maker.

François Lotte was born in the violin- and bow-making town of Mirecourt to Georges Lotte and Joséphine Millot. Georges Lotte was an experienced violin maker who had worked for Vuillaume and Derazey. François was only 7 years old when his father died. It is believed that he trained under Charles Nicolas Bazin, but this is not entirely certain. What is certain, however, is that François Lotte worked as a bow maker for Charles Nicolas Bazin and his son Charles Louis until 1921.
Workshop(s)
Mirecourt, ±1903-1970

Life Course

Bazin’s workshop, where François Lotte worked, played an important role in Mirecourt. Charles Nicolas Bazin had served as a city council member in recognition of his great contributions, had drawn up plans for a national school for violin making, and, in addition, ensured that the bows produced in his workshop were, almost without exception, of exceptional quality. Between 12 and 17 skilled bow makers worked at Bazin’s workshop. François Lotte was one of them. Each year, between 2,000 and 3,000 bows were made in this workshop. With the exception of the period he spent as a prisoner of war, François Lotte would continue to work at Bazin for approximately 20 years. In addition to the bows they made under their own name, the workshop supplied bows to countless Parisian firms. The success of this firm would also influence other bow makers; many started their own businesses, sometimes in Mirecourt, but more often in Paris or elsewhere in Europe. Not so François Lotte—he continued to work in his hometown for the rest of his life.

In 1919, François Lotte married the daughter of Emile François Ouchard, also a bow maker who had been trained by—and would later become the assistant to—the bow maker Eugène Cuniot. Three years after his marriage, he had a son, and François joined the firm Cuniot-Hury. Although Eugène Cuniot had died as early as 1910, the firm still bore his name. The actual management was in the hands of François Lotte’s father-in-law: Emile François Ouchard. He would continue to work in this workshop until 1925; during the final years, after Ouchard had already left, under the direction of Eugène Cuniot’s widow, Françoise Marguerite Hury.

After a brief period during which he unsuccessfully attempted to collaborate with Eugène Brouillier, he started his own workshop. It was so successful that by around 1931 it had grown into a firm with eleven employees. These were bow makers who, with a few exceptions such as Marcel Charles Lapierre, operated in the shadow of the greatest masters but, under François Lotte’s guidance, produced fine bows. Among them were Albert Thomassin, René Bernard, and Henri Piroué. He would not be able to sustain that success for long; the competition in Mirecourt was simply too fierce. In 1926, some 600 violin makers and bow makers were still working in Mirecourt, spread across small one-man operations and large workshops. That number would decline to 100 paid employees by 1954. François Lotte was also unable to escape the downsizing; by 1936, only four bow makers were still working for him, including his son Roger.

After 1960, François Lotte handed over management of his workshop to his son Roger, but continued to work in the studio every day until his death. He died ten years later. His son continued to run the studio until 1989.

Work and Influence

During Mirecourt’s heyday, bow makers worked with and for one another so frequently that even experts still find it difficult to distinguish the work of individual makers. The situation was much the same for François Lotte. In his work, they see influences from Bazin, Cuniot, and Ouchard. It was only later that his bows took on a more distinctive character.

The bows that François Lotte had learned to make under Bazin were initially still slender and had rounded corners. Over time, and certainly after his son Roger joined him, connoisseurs observed his bows becoming more angular and robust. His bows are typically brownish-red, rarely octagonal, and usually longer than usual. He stamped his bows with the brand marks “FRANCOIS LOTTE” and “Fcois LOTTE.” François Lotte made bows for Appartut & Hilaire, George Dupuy, Roger Millant, Max Millant, and Marcel Vatelot.

Sources

Parisian Violin Makers in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Volume 3: “Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume and His Family” by Sylvette Milliot, 2006.

Violins & Bows - Jost Thoene 2006 Roda.

Joseph (1959). Bows for Musical Instruments. Chicago: W. Lewis. ISBN 2-85955-002-X. OCLC 906667.

Vatelot, Étienne (1976). Les Archet Francais. Sernor: M. Dufour. OCLC 2850939.

Raffin, Jean-François; Millant, Bernard (2000). L’Archet. Paris: L’Archet Éditions. OCLC 47152342.

Vannes, Rene (1985) [1951]. Dictionnaire Universel del Luthiers (vol. 3). Brussels: Les Amis de la musique. OCLC 53749830.

Haine, M. 2013. Trademarks of Musical Instrument Makers from 1860 to 1919, William, Henley (1969).

Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers. Brighton; England: Amati. ISBN 0-901424-00-5.

Auteur
Jan Boekhout
Date
27 May 2019

Given on loan