c. 1860 Charles Boullangier SP/MP

Stringed instrument maker Charles Boullangier trained in the shop of J.B. Vuillaume and Gand and Bernardel in France (three of the greatest 19th-century violin makers) before moving to England in 1849 to work for Edward Withers I. He set up his own workshop around 1856 in the Soho district of London, where he remained until his death in 1888. This instrument bears a label from this 1856-1888 period of Boullangier but paperwork accompanying this guitar from a prior owner suggests that the guitar was actually made in Mirecourt (France), and possibly in the shop of Honore (Jean Joseph) Derezye. If so, it would have been imported to England and sold under Boullangier's label. Regardless of its ultimate origin, this is an exceptionally well-preserved mid-nineteenth century instrument made of spruce for the top, back and sides of birds-eye maple veneered to quartered maple, a black stained neck with v-joint at the head. The original machines have been restored to working order and there is a small crack in the back that was recently restored - the guitar is in otherwise excellent and original (including finish) condition. The quality of sound lends itself wonderfully to the repertoire of the mid-nineteenth century and would be an ideal instrument for the player seeking this authentic period-style sound.

Orfeo Magazine article on Mirecourt