Virtual Tour of "Beethoven & Berlioz, Paris & Vienna: Musical Treasures from the Age of Revolution & Romance 1789-1848" Violin by Chanot & Lété Workshop, Paris, ca. 1819 NMM 5972. Violin by Chanot & Lété Workshop, Paris, ca. 1819. Arne B. Larson Estate, 1989. François Chanot (1788-1825) was the eldest son of Joseph Chanot, a violin maker in Mirecourt, the major French center of this trade. Rather than entering the family business, he studied at l'École polytechnique in Paris and became a naval engineer. In 1816, after a distinguished career in the navy, he was dismissed because of his suspected sympathies for Napoleon, now in exile after his defeat at Waterloo. During the following few years, Chanot turned his engineering talents to redesigning the violin and the larger instruments of the family. Dispensing with the tailpiece, Chanot attached the strings to an ebony plate set in the belly, in the manner of a guitar. Guided by a theory that the wood fibers should be as long as possible, Chanot simplified the shape of the violin's f-holes and adopted the cornerless body design that had often been used by luthiers in the past. Soundholes Close-up view of Chanot violin soundholes. Pegbox and Scroll Chanot turned the scroll backwards to facilitate fastening the strings to their tuning pegs. Alternatively, the pegboxes of some Chanot instruments have, instead of a scroll, a simpler finial with a shield. Label:  none. Body:  guitar-shaped body without corners or overhanging edges. Top:  two-piece, quarter-cut spruce, medium grain. Back:  one-piece, quarter-cut maple with narrow, horizontal curl; later ivory cap over entire button. Ribs:  quarter-cut maple with faint, medium curl, angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; top and back do not overhang ribs. Head and neck:  maple, narrow curl; reversed scroll, reeded; back of pegbox fluted; neck varnished. Edging:  edges not scooped; edges capped with rounded ivory (on top, bass side, later celluloid) over a later stained pearwood strip on top and an ebony strip on back. Purfling:  ebony and ivory; continues under back button. Varnish:  golden-brown. Fingerboard:  ebony; channeled over neck position. Nut:  later bone. String holder:  later guitar-style, ebony, without saddle; rounded upper surface with facets on sides; strings held by later bone pins with abalone eyes. Pegs:  four boxwood with flat head surfaces and mother-of-pearl eyes set in ebony rings. Saddle:  later ebony; half-round shape; ridge along upper edge. Endpin:  ebony with central incised hole surrounded by incised ring. F-holes:  curved, slot-shaped; edges lined in stained pearwood and ivory, the inside edge painted black. Linings:  spruce upper; later wide poplar lower. Top block:  small spruce; nail into neck heel. Bassbar:  narrow, probably original. Inside of body stained brown, possibly due to original nitric or pyrogallic acid treatment. Measurements   Stop length:  199 mm Vibrating string length:  338 mm Original neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 136 mm Upper bout width:  167 mm Center bout width:  110 mm Lower bout width:  211 mm Back length: 370 mm  Rib height:  31 mm Literature:  John Koster, "Inventive Violin Making . . . Important Acquisitions Enrich Museum's Holdings," America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 28, No. 3 (August 2001), pp. 1-3. André P. Larson, Beethoven & Berlioz, Paris & Vienna: Musical Treasures from the Age of Revolution & Romance 1789-1848, with essay by John Koster, exhibition catalog, Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, September 12-November 2, 2003 (Vermillion: National Music Museum 2003), p. 32.   Click arrow to continue Virtual Tour of Beethoven and Berlioz Exhibition Go to Beethoven and Berlioz Exhibition Virtual Tour Index Go to Virtual Gallery Tour Index Exhibition catalog and poster available from Gift Shop Go to Checklist of Chanot Model Bowed Stringed Instruments Go to Checklist of Violins Made Between 1800-1849 National Music Museum The University of South Dakota 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069 ©National Music Museum, 2003-2008 Most recent update: April 30, 2008 You are the 6,868th visitor to this page since May 14, 2003. The University of South Dakota Return to Top of Page