Pierre Joseph Hel

Violin maker
(1842 – 1902)

Pierre Joseph Hel apprenticed to Salzard at Mirecourt for seven years before working for Sebastien Vuillaume and N. Darche at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1864. In 1865, he established his own shop in Lille, where he produced over 800 instruments until his death in 1902. Hel was known for his excellent craftsmanship, using classical Cremonese patterns and sometimes drawing inspiration from the Vuillaume style. ...Read More He carried out restoration work for the Lille Conservatoire and for the Glasgow dealer David Laurie from around 1880, and he received numerous awards at various European and American exhibitions. He was made an officer of the French Academy and was credited with very superior copies of Stradivari and Guarneri instruments. Hel sometimes branded his instruments above the endpin: 'J. Hel à Lille'. His son Pierre Jean Henri followed him into the trade. Read Less

Price History

- The auction record for this maker is $88,000 in Nov 2012, for a cello.
- 257 auction price results.

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Hel family tree

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