Georges Adolphe Chanot

Violin maker
(1855 – 1923)

Georges Adolphe Chanot was the eldest son of Georges (II), born in London in 1855. Over the five generations of the Chanot dynasty, the practice appears to have been to set the elder children up in independent business. Therefore of his generation, it was his youngest brother,Frederick ...Read More W. Chanot who took over the London firm. G.A. Chanot took his side of the business north in 1879 to Manchester, the heartland of Britain’s industrial wealth, where he remained for the rest of his life.

With his move to Manchester, G.A. Chanot appears to have stepped away from his father’s influence. Early instruments that he made are antiqued examples following standard models of Stradivari and Giuseppe 'del Gesù', but his output from Manchester is dominated by more unusual models, often bench copies made cleanly and as new comprising the range of Cremonese works. Amati appears to have been a special favourite, and Bergonzi copies are also known. The workmanship is always very clean, crisp and precise. Spruce for the front has a tendency to be slightly wide-grained, and for his Amati copies he appears to have preferred a one-piece back with a satin-like flame. Stradivari and 'del Gesù' copies normally have a striking broad flame. His varnish is soft and easily damaged.

Some instruments containing his genuine label are made to a slightly inferior quality and look out of place. Meredith Morris wrote that he employed a number of craftsmen in his shop, and this explains the difference. Influence of the skills that he brought to Manchester can be seen in the work of his contemporaries, Robert Stanley and Paul Voigt who probably worked with him. His work ranks as some of the best English modern making of the early 20th century, alongside the violins of his pupil, Thomas Earle Hesketh. Read Less