Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume was a most important musical instrument dealer, violin maker and inventor in Paris in the middle of the 19th century.
Before Vuillaume, the Baroque neck had been used on violins. Vuillaume invented the modern neck, which can produce stronger sound, to make the base of today’s modern violins.
Besides, many important bow makers including Dominique Peccatte worked in his atelier, and they spread the use of the modern bows that Tourte Francois had invented in the identical days.
Why Stradivarius and Guarneri del Gesu have been highly evaluated is, according to some theories, explained by Vuillaume, who found their true value and collected and sold many of them.

In 1855, Vuillaume purchased 144 old Italian violins, including 25 Stradivariuses, from Luigi Tarisio, an Italian musical instrument dealer.
From many of such violins, he collected precise data to make many copies of the violins for the following generations.
Around the time he made this violin, he moved to the larger premises on Demeure Ternes Street and hired more excellent assistants. Afterwards some of those assistants made the bases of mass production in Mirecourt and Mitternwald.
In his atelier, more than 3,000 musical instruments were made. Like the other instruments of Vuillaume, this violin holds the serial number of ‘2000’ on the top of its label.
This violin follows a model of Stradivarius, which is well-balanced and shows no exaggeration, and is clad in warm feeling delicate varnish.
The sound is brilliant and deep enough to meet players’ demands in a large hall.