Violin by Lucien Francais Paris, France 1923

Maker: Lucien Francais 

Paris, France

Year: 1923

Certification: Vatelot-Rampal Paris

Size: 4/4

This beautiful French violin has a one-piece maple back with bold lateral figure. Ribs and scroll match nicely. Top is of fine, straight-grained spruce, with the grain widening towards the edges. The violin is made on a Stradivari model, with the correct shape, sound-holes, and corners. Varnish is a dark walnut color over a neutral base, is evenly applied, and has the hard shine typical of many French instruments. The instrument was not originally “antiqued”, but does show some wear in the varnish: notably, on the back a patch of color has been worn away by player’s shoulder, on the upper treble side rib a patch of color has been worn away by player’s hand, as well as on the edge of the back in the same place. Very minor case-wear on the treble side corners, and a few insignificant dings along the edges of the spruce. There is a repaired mark on the top from an old-style fine-tuner, and one on rib under the chinrest from an old chinrest clamp. These in no way distract form the beauty of this instrument, in fact they add to the instrument’s character and are testament to the instrument’s vintage. Gold capped ebony pegs, ebony chinrest, and ebony tailpiece complete the look.