Louis Joseph Morizot

Life

Louis Morizot became thoroughly familiar with Bazin’s work there and, even long after he had established his own business, remained closely aligned with Bazin’s designs. In 1914, he left this workshop and began a collaboration with Eugène Sartory. This Parisian bow maker had become extremely successful and could no longer keep up with the demand for his bows. That is why he enlisted the help of Louis Morizot. From Mirecourt, where Morizot was still working, he first supplied rough bows and bow sleeves and later his fully finished bows to Sartory’s Parisian workshop. Eugène Sartory had to serve in the military that year, but upon his return, he resumed his collaboration with Louis Morizot.

In 1919, Louis Morizot started his own business, also in Mirecourt. His eldest son joined him in 1920, followed by his four other sons, with whom he expanded his workshop’s capacity around 1925. Together, they made bows for a large number of companies throughout France. Depending on their talent, each son had his own role in the workshop. It is known that his son André was responsible for making the finest and most expensive bows, while Marcel made bows from lower-grade materials. From that year onward, the workshop grew to become one of the largest in Mirecourt.

The French market quickly became saturated. Eugène Sartory had already traveled to New York in 1921 with a crate of bows, but had noticed that bows were being sold there under false French names. Among them were large quantities of bows bearing his name. Sartory took legal action but lost the case. From that year on, he exported only bows accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. Louis Morizot soon followed suit and became the leading exporter of bows to America. Together with Louis Bazin, they supplied their first bows to the American market around 1925.

In 1933, Louis and his sons entered into a formal partnership and named the new firm “Louis Morizot et ses fils.” In 1937, they moved to a new location and once again changed the company’s name; this time it became “Morizot frères.” His son Paul, who had long been called “the boss,” ran the company. The reason for this change was that Louis found himself forced to step back from the business; his eyesight had deteriorated to such an extent that he could only support his sons; he could no longer see well enough for the precise work. He continued to help his sons and grandson wherever he could, almost until his death. He died in 1957.

Work and Influence

Louis Morizot’s mother was a Maline: a highly respected family of bow makers in Mirecourt. Tradition dictated that Louis should first apprentice at the family business, but he instead began his career at Cuniot-Hury. Eugène Cuniot had learned the craft from Charles Nicolas Bazin and made bows that were heavily inspired by Bazin’s. Thus, the foundation for Louis’s later development was already laid in Cuniot’s workshop, where he trained and worked.

Just as the Cuniot-Hury workshop was experiencing rapid growth and could barely keep up with the demand for high-quality bows, Louis Morizot left to join Charles-Nicolas Bazin. Taking advantage of the freedom Bazin granted his employees, he created robust models that, according to experts, still bear some resemblance to those of Cuniot but feature slimmer shafts with Bazin’s characteristic U-shaped openings.

Under the influence of Eugène Sartory, Louis continued to develop a more personal style that is considered more refined and elegant. Sartory’s influence is particularly evident in the tips of Morizots’ bows. By 1919, he had developed a design that was virtually final.

The bows that Morizot and his sons began making in 1925 are very similar to one another. With a few exceptions, it is difficult to determine which of them made which bow. They all used virtually the same models and the same two brand marks. It was only later that the brothers devised technical modifications to the production process, making the bows easier to date. The wood Morizot used was brown-red and brown-orange in color. Between 1925 and 1930, the bows were slightly shorter than usual. In 1927, Louis Morizot won first prize at the Exposition Artisanale in Paris.

It is not known exactly how many students and staff members Louis and his sons had. In any case, they included his five sons and his two grandsons, Claude and Roger, as well as certainly a few other big names such as Jean-Jacques Millant, Bernard Millant, Roger François Lotte, Marcel Lapierre, and C.N. Bazin’s eldest grandson: Charles Alfred Bazin.

Louis Morizot has gone down in history as the man who made the most bows in Mirecourt.

Sources

Haine, M., 2013, “Trademarks of Instrument Makers Registered from 1860 to 1919.”

Millant, B., Raffin, J.F., 2000, *L'Archet: French Bowmakers, 1750–1950*. Paris.

Tarisio, Cozio Digital Archive, accessed in 2019.

Vatelot, E., 1976, *Les Archets Français*. Nancy.