Charles Peccatte (14 October 185022 October 1918) was a French ''

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 ...

'' ( bow maker). He was born 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 ...

, the son of

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 the nephew of

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 ...

. He was trained by August Lenoble with whom he later had a partnership which lasted until 1881. The early work includes very individual bows which can be described as of the Peccatte school but many of which have heads modelled somewhat after the early type of bow by

François Tourte François Xavier Tourte (1747 – 25 April 1835) was a French bow maker who made a number of significant contributions to the development of the bow of stringed instruments, and is considered to be the most important figure in the development of ...

. In the majority of cases Charles Peccatte signed his bows with his name in full, which is also common practice in his uncle’s and father’s work. He differed, however, by signing his bows on both sides of the stick. To sign the sticks in this manner is quite unusual in the history of French bow making. There is a possibility that he may have been trying to differentiate himself from his predecessors by doing so. Charles had a unique way of carving heads. This always gives an incredible impression of strength in comparison to their tiny volume. Yet, the heads of his bows are strong, powerful, yet still complementary to the light, elegant style of that era. His working of the bow sticks left them more rigid, which made them very powerful. Charles worked for Vuillaume, Voirin and Lenoble, before opening own establishment at Paris, 1908. After the death of his Mother, Charles, freed from his ties with Lenoble, moved into his new home and workshop on the

Rue de Valois The Rue de Valois () is a street in the Palais-Royal quarter in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. Description The 377-meter-long-street starts at 202, Rue Saint-Honoré and ends at 1, Rue de Beaujolais. It has a north-south orientation ...

. Here he moved into a more contemporary style of bow making also using different brand stamp. "His meritorious bows have received consistent acknowledgement from soloists." (Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers). The chamfer on a Charles Peccatte tends to go a little higher into the throat (or the stick itself) on the audience side of the bow. The reason for the success of the bows of the Peccatte family is their individuality. All the Peccattes emanated a very strong, robust personality. Charles was no exception, keeping certain family traditions alive, such as the ‘wide’ head model. The bows Charles made for J.-B. Vuillaume, closely resemble those made by

François Nicolas Voirin François Nicolas Voirin (1833–1885) was a French archetier (Bow (music), bowmaker), known in his time as the "Modern François Tourte, Tourte." F.N. Voirin (the son of a gardener) was born in Paris, the brother of Joseph Voirin (also a talente ...

for

Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (; 7 October 1798 – 19 March 1875) was a French luthier, businessman, inventor and winner of many awards. He was one of the finest French luthiers of the 19th century and a key figure in the world of violin making. ...

. C. Peccatte won silver medals at the

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

and Paris Expositions Universelles in 1885 and 1889 respectively, and was established on his own at 8 rue de Valois, Paris, by 1885. He is a teacher of Eugène Sartory.

References

* * * * * Dictionnaire Universel del Luthiers - Rene Vannes 1951,1972, 1985 (vol.3) *

Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers The ''Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers'' is a widely cited reference work providing information on approximately 9,000 violin makers. The work is based on the extensive notes of violinist and composer William Henley (1874-1957). Henley ...

- William Henley 1970 *https://web.archive.org/web/20131101124313/http://tarisio.com/wp/2012/04/charles-peccate-violin-bow/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Peccatte, Charles 1850 births 1918 deaths Luthiers from Mirecourt Bow makers