William, Charles & Alfred Voller

"Valler Brothers" is a collective name for three brothers who are famous not only in the UK but around the world as "copyists."

Each of them was also a talented musician: William (William Voller 1854-1933) was a violist, Alfred (Alfred Voller 1856-1918) was a cellist, and Charles (Charles Voller 1865-1949) was a violinist.

The elder William played a central role in instrument making, and is thought to have studied violin making under Frederick William Chanot (1857-1911).

Around 1892, he met the famous British dealer George II Hart (1860-1939), who asked him to make copies of the finest old Italian wines that frequented Hart's shop.

Although the details are unknown, the brothers divided the work among themselves and created a single instrument.

The accuracy of the copies and their appearance were astonishing, and they used unusual techniques to create violins that were indistinguishable from the real thing, such as not only using the patina of the varnish, but also cracking and fissuring the wood and deliberately using materials that had been eaten by insects.

As a result, at the time, instruments they made were put up for auction as "genuine Stradivarius" and even came with a certificate of authenticity from a famous maker (the truth later came to light).

The brothers also supplied instruments to Hamma in Stuttgart and Wurlitzer in New York.

The brothers produced not only copies of Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri del Gesu, but also copies of lesser-known Italian makers at the time, such as Rugeri, Tononi, Grancino, Testore, Gragnani (Antonio Gragnani w.1765-1794), and Felix Mori Costa. Among them, their copies of the Gagliano Family were particularly outstanding.

His over-perfect copies give the impression of being "deceptive," but each instrument is highly refined and attractive, and he is sure to become an increasingly highly regarded maker in the future.

Quotation《The Brompton's Book of Violin and Bow Makers》《The British Violin》