GUEST: It belonged to my great-grandmother. She was a musician, took music when she was a child, and later on in life was a music teacher.
APPRAISER: Do you think she used this one as a child?
GUEST: I don't know, I know that was the one she had as an adult.
APPRAISER: Well, this is a classy little fiddle.
GUEST: Is it?
APPRAISER: This was made in the town of Mirecourt in France, which is where most of the violins in the 19th century were made in France. It could have been made by any number of, three or four or five, commercial workshops. Not just one guy making one violin. I think this was made about 1880, maybe even as late as 1890, and the work is just very classic French. You see how nicely these corners are formed?
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: Beautiful carving, and I'm going to turn this around, and that's called a button. And that button is really gorgeous. It's very small, but beautifully carved. Back of the head, beautifully done. And, normally, a child's violin is quickly produced, meant to be a cheap, almost a throwaway item, because it's a stepping stone towards a full-sized violin. But the real prize for me was seeing this bow, and it's a full-sized bow. I was surprised to see it with a three-quarter violin. And it's a bow made in France, also. I think this was made, perhaps in the town of Mirecourt, as well, but made for the firm of J.-B. Vuillaume. I'm going to show you here. It's got a silver-mounted frog. That's a silver ferrule, silver bands on the adjuster. J.-B. Vuillaume himself was not a bow maker, but he employed the best bow makers in France at the time. This was made about 1860, 1870, just towards the end of the J.-B. Vuillaume shop. He died in 1875. The violin-- I'd say retail value in a violin shop, $3,500, perhaps $4,500. The bow is not the esteemed wood which is called Pernambuco wood. This is what the French call bee's wood, and we call Brazilwood. And this is not particularly well preserved, but it has a lot of potential. With, I think, about $1,000 worth of restoration, this would be, perhaps, retail value, $12,000 to $15,000.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: This bow, I think, may have been made by the bow maker Nicolas Maline. And he did work for Vuillaume, worked on his own, but also worked for Vuillaume. The bow, as is, not easy to sell as it is, but I would think between $3,000 and $5,000 as it sits.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: If I'm right about the maker. But I think I am.
GUEST: Well, all righty. (laughs)
