Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertRyanAshley
Sorry didn't realize those pics were quite so large.
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First off, try reading this and maybe you can edit the size down.
http://www.smithbassforums.com/showthread.php?t=100
On the Bass itself I think it's French. I saw one other bass labeled from Turin by an Italian maker (Rocca I think was from Turin as well) that was a dead ringer for a Mirecourt Bass. Turin is so close to France that the culture is intermingled. So might be the distribution and re-labeling business.
This bass above was first on line from Lemur a few years ago. The Gears are Italian as I had a Bass years ago with those very same gears. I was told they dated to about 1880. The bass on the other hand is a Vuillaume style influenced pattern. Whom ever came up with it first I can't say but most of the credit usually goes to JB Vuillaume.
I don't know who the maker is there but I would not say Riviere-Hawkes. Those Basses are from Joseph Jacquet who partnered with a man named Barbezant and became Jacquet-Barbezant. The Gears on all of these Basses are the typical Mirecourt gears. It is also possible that the Scroll is either not original or someone found the gears and replaced the ones from Mirecourt. I don't think that bass is as old as labeled. Maybe off by 50 years or so. A french bass re-labeled and sold by a shop in Turin? That is also a possibility.
Just guessing from the Pics. Only a personal in and out inspection could 'maybe' determine what that bass was meant to be.