Description
A good English violin by Job Ardern, Wilmslow, circa 1880.
Job Ardern (1826-1912) worked in Wilmslow in Cheshire, an important industrial centre for the Arts and Crafts movement, which goes a long way to explaining his approach to the violin. His instruments have an individuality that comes from that movement producing works that have all the components of a violin, but none of what he must have considered to be the dogma of following established Italian prototypes. He produced hundreds of violins as a fanatical and reclusive violin maker and sold few if any in his lifetime. When he died in 1912, W.E. Hill & Sons acquired his remaining stock. At the time they were interested in the market of what they called “reasonably priced student instruments”, often good French factory violins that they sold via mail order, and Job Ardern violins represented a compelling alternative within their range. Many of these instruments appear today in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada where there was an appetite to buy modestly priced English instruments from the London dealers.
Whilst the Hills sold these instruments as student instruments, they observed the coincidental likeness between Ardern’s work and some of the modern Italian violins that were making their way to England through musical wholesalers: Makers such as Giovanni Schwarz in Venice (sold by Hawkes & Co), or Ariste Cavalli in Cremona are not without comparison to Ardern’s work. Furthermore, by assembling these instruments in the Hill workshop, re-graduating the plates to conventional thickness and adjusting the setup, they are ultimately finished to the Hill standard all bode well for these instruments. Unfortunately, Ardern was often unconventional in his choices of wood, using chestnut, lime, and anything else that took his fancy. Some of these instruments are very unappealing tonally and explain why Ardern’s work sometimes sells for very low prices. This is a relatively unusual example that is made from good sycamore and spruce with no issues at all about its tonal properties. As a rule English instruments by these non-standard makers price around the same level as contemporary Mirecourt-made violins, with this in mind, this example punches a little above it’s price.
Certificate: Our certificate available upon purchase.
Condition notes: The violin is in excellent condition. Length of back 354mm.
Literature: W.E. Hill & Sons published a booklet about Job Ardern, which was later republished by the Wilmslow Historical Society. A copy of the reprint is sold with the violin.
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