Lucien Schmitt (1892 – 1984), fine old cello circa 1947, French
This is a beautiful example of Lucien Schmitt’s work. This incorporates all of his best skills, choice of woods, quality of workmanship and his superb plum red varnish.
Birth : 1892 in Saint Julien EnGenevois Death : 1984 in Meylan (Isère)
Lucien SCHMITT began with the production of instruments built in the style of the classical Masters. He then developed his own models, one in the style of N. Amati, one inspired by the Guarnerius, called ‘ModèleSoliste,” and a third model, adhering to a very personal pattern called “Mieulx ne Sçay” (which loosely translates as “I can do no better”), widely considered SCHMITT’s most accomplished work.
Just prior to his death, the Lucian SCHMITT’s total production was estimated at:
Further background as follow:
Lucien Schmitt was a Franco Swiss luthier. He was a popular luthier born in Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, Switzerland in 1892. Lucien SCHMITT was trained as a violinist before beginning his apprenticeship in 1910 in Mirecourt in the workshop of Léon MOUGENOT with whom he remained for two years. After a training period in the bow workshop of C.N. BAZIN, Lucien SCHMITT joined Alfred VIDOUDEZ’s workshop in Geneva (Switzerland) and then Paul Victor LORANGE’s workshop in Lyon.
After the First World War, Lucien SCHMITT joined CARESSA & FRANCAIS in Paris and then BOVIS’s workshop in Nice, which at the time was operated by Miss BOVIS.
In 1922 Lucien SCHMITT established himself in Grenoble before moving his workshop to Meylan in 1941, a small village in the Grenoble area.
He won first prize at the Geneva Conservatoire as a performer and then moved to Mirecourt, France where he studied under Mougenot, Paul Lorange in Lyon and Caressa &Français in Paris. He set up his own atelier in Grenoble in 1922.
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