Joseph Chanot

Biographies

John Dilworth Willibald Leo Lütgendorff

John Dilworth

CHANOT, Joseph Born 1760 Boulaincourt, died 1832 Mirecourt France. First violin maker of the Chanot dynasty. By family tradition a farmer, he also ran a general store in Boulaincourt through which he may have begun to sell violins. There are no known examples dated before 1790. After moving to nearby Mirecourt some time in or before 1786, his violin making activities evidently increased. His work is in typically Mirecourt style of the period: slightly rounded arch and elongated outline, with long upright soundholes set rather close to the edge. A little unrefined in detail but of good standard. Red-brown or yellow varnish. Inscribed directly onto the interior of the back: ‘Joseph Chanot Mirecourt 1790’. Branded with fleur-de-lys on button: ‘I. Chanot’