Christopher Wise

Established in Vine Court, Bishopsgate from 1650, moving nearby to Half Moon Alley 1656. Returned to Vine Court 1661, working closely with G. Miller. The Half Moon Alley address seems to have been taken over by Richard Meares after 1669. Wise may have emigrated to Barbados, since reference is found to a Christopher Wise established there with 19 acres of land in 1679. Wise is mentioned in the diaries ...Read More of Samuel Pepys (1663), in which year Pepys ordered a viol from Wise. Several known or surviving instruments: a bass viol dated 1658; violin dated 1665 decorated with a crown and the letters 'CR', presumably for 'Charles Rex', recorded in the Hill Archive; a six string viol with fluted bow is found in the inventory of Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany; and a violin dated 1661 of unusual form, with very small corners and long symmetrical soundholes; very delicate work resembling violins attributed to Tielke of Hamburg. Read Less

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