Based on its label, this French trade violin is from Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (7 October 1798 – 19 March 1875) a French luthier, born in Mirecourt, France. His father and grandfather were both luthiers which explains his interest in violins and other stringed instruments. He later joined various workshops when he moved to Paris in 1818. One in particular is the workshop of Simon Lete, the son-in-law of François-Louis Pique at Rue Pavée St. Sauveur. Their partnership led them to settle in Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs in 1825 under the name of "Lété et Vuillaume."However, his first labels are dated 1823.
He became a great inventor and winner of various awards such as a silver medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1827. He started his own business at 46 Rue Croix des Petits-Champs became the most important workshop in Paris, creating over 3000 instruments.
This is a French JTL Virtuoso Violin Copy (c 1900) of Francisco Ruggieri dated 1671. Ruggieri was a skilled instrument maker from a renowned family of luthiers in Cremona, Italy. JTL represents Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy & Cie, a French musical instrument manufacturing company established by Louis Emile Jérôme Thibouville and Marguerite Hyacinthe Lamy in the early 1900s.
Check out this Leonidas Nadegini violin made about 1920. Jean-Baptiste Leonidas Nadegini was a Ukrainian luthier who was awarded as gold medalist for sonority in Saint Petersbourg competition in 1907.
Lambert-Humbert Frères firm (fl. 1876 – 1969) was a major violin manufacturer in Mirecourt, offering a wide range of models and quality levels, established in 1876 by violin-making brothers Maurice-Emile and Pierre Alexis Auguste Laberte.
This is the J.T.L. Violin made in France. JTL or Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy & Cie is a musical instrument making company in France formed by Louis Emile Jérôme Thibouville and Marguerite Hyacinthe Lamy in the 1900’s.
We have here a Collin - Mezin Violin made in Paris in 1911. Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin is a French violin maker who started at a young age under the tutelage of his father, Claud-Nicolas Collin. His own workshop started in 1867 at the 14 and 18 rue du Faubourg Poissonnièr in France.
This violin is Labelled Collin-Mezin and was made in Paris dated 1911. Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin came from a line of luthiers where he created various instruments considered superior to other new instruments. This violin is most likely an early copy.