Jean-Jacques Millant (1928–1998) was an influential

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

bow maker/

archetier A bow maker is a person who builds, repairs, and restores antique or modern Bow (music), bows for bowed string instruments. These include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, viola d'amore, viola da gamba, etc. The French word for bowmaker (b ...

(French word for maker of string family bows) of the

Dominique Peccatte Dominique Peccatte (15 July 1810 – 13 January 1874) was a French luthier and above all a renowned bow maker. He was apprenticed in Mirecourt and later worked with Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. He is notable for adapting the "hatchet-shaped" typ ...

school. His cousin,

Bernard Millant Bernard Millant (1929 – 5 April 2017) was a bow maker, archetier and luthier in Paris, France. He was the son of Max Millant. He studied violin-making at Amédée Dieudonné's workshop in Mirecourt. He also studied bow-making with Louis Morizot ...

(born 1929) produced bows similar in style. Millant, son of violin maker Roger Millant, was apprenticed in

Mirecourt Mirecourt () is a Communes of France, commune in the Vosges (French department), Vosges Departments of France, department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mirecourt is known for lace-making and the manufacture of musical instruments, particula ...

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

, France by the Morizot Brothers from 1946–1948, then worked with his uncle, Roger and Max Millant in Paris until 1950, after which he opened his own shop in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1970, Millant was awarded the title Un de Meilleurs Ouvriers de France. His bows, which are strongly influenced by

François Peccatte François Peccatte (10 March 1821 in Mirecourt – 30 October 1855 in Paris) was a very talented archetier. He is said to have been destined for greatness, but died at the age of 34 before reaching the height of his craft. He was the brother of Do ...

and

, quickly enjoyed great esteem among the most highly demanding professionals. Millant made excellent playing bows (following the Peccatte pattern). ''Millant bows function much as good facsimile Peccattes. The combination of choice of materials, weight, strength, and flexibility make them excellent playing tools, and bows by this maker are becoming increasingly desirable in the market today and are sought after by top professionals.'' - Stefan Hersh "Jean-Jacques Millant is considered one of the most important bowmakers of the latter part of the 20th century". - Gennady Filimonov

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * Brueckner, Daniel - The Golden Bows / Der Goldbogen 2000 Edition Erwin Bochinsky. 1928 births 1998 deaths Bow makers Luthiers from Paris {{France-music-bio-stub