Léon Mougenot, Mirecourt, France 1924 (FR030) SOLD

Léon Mougenot, Mirecourt, France 1924 (FR030)

Please inquire about the price.

Léon Mougenot was born in 1874 in Mirecourt, the heart of French violin-making and apprenticed under Emile Laurent and George Mougenot, a cousin of his father who lived in Brussels. He furthered his skill set by working for Paul Blanchard (Lyon), Paul Jombar (Paris) and the venerable Hills of London. He opened his own workshop in Mirecourt in 1899 and soon gained a reputation for his quality of manufacture and sound.

This cello bears the label Léon Mougenot Gauché (Gauché was Léon’s mother’s name) and its date of manufacture of 1924. It is in fine condition with few repairs and has been professionally set up with a Belgian bridge and Larsen treble and Spirocore bass strings.

Part of Mougenot’s success in sound production we feel comes from his understanding that less weight leads to more resonance in an instrument and this cello is noticeably light in weight and as such resonates freely and produces lots of bright, clear, nuanced & reverberant. This cello would suit a soloist.

The cello comes with a 1964 certificate of guarantee from the respected Parisian luthier Emile Francais for Professor Masashi Miyake of Tokyo. Monsieur Francais also included a signed photograph of himself addressed to Miyake, a bit odd in my opinion but a nice touch!

Length of back is 767mm. High resolution photos available on request.