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John Furber
He was the third son of Matthew Furber, sen., and a pupil of his father and John Betts. He made a large number of instruments on the grand Amati pattern, and some copies of the " Betts " Stradivari, when that famous masterpiece was in the possession of Betts. His work is excellent in every respect. I quite recently saw one of these copies, and I must say that I considered it a superb example of the copyist's art. The wood of the back was of a broad " flame," with the curl slanting nearly at right angles to the longitudinal axis in the direction of the lower end of the instrument. The varnish was golden red, mellow, tender, and not too thickly laid on. The tone was clear and penetrating, and very fine on the two inner strings. The only part of the work which might be considered to be lacking in depth of feeling was the scroll, which was not quite in the spirit of the master, being somewhat stiff and over masculine. His Amati copies are considerably modified in many instances, and some of them are rather deeply grooved and highly arched, but the tone is almost invariably clear and penetrating. His best violins realise as much as £20 to-day, and they will sell at a still higher figure in years to come. Furber worked for J. Betts at the Royal Exchange, and many of the fine instruments which bear Betts' label. His own label is:- JOHN FURBER, MAKER, 13 ST. JOHN'S ROW, TOP OF BRICK LANE, OLD ST., SAINT LUKE, 1839
Show more Hide textPrice History
Type | Title | Sold | Price |
---|---|---|---|
Violin | 35.6 cm London, 1800 c. | Sat 1st November 08 | £ 1151.00 |
Violin | 35.8 cm London, early 19th C. | Sat 1st March 08 | £ 1875.00 |
Viola | 38.7 cm 1820 c. | Fri 1st October 93 | £ 2530.00 |
Viola | 41.9 cm 18-- | Thu 1st April 93 | £ 5175.00 |
Violin | 35.7 cm London, 1830 c. | Wed 1st October 08 | £ 2125.00 |
Violin | 35.3 cm London, 1820 | Sun 1st June 08 | £ 1913.00 |
Violin | 35.7 cm 1820 c. [Attributed to] | Sat 1st March 08 | £ 1200.00 |
Violin | London, 1830 c. | Mon 1st March 04 | £ 2270.00 |
Cello | 1814 | Thu 1st November 01 | £ 3262.00 |
Cello | 1812 | Sat 1st July 00 | £ 300.00 |
Violin | 1817 | Mon 1st March 99 | £ 2070.00 |
Violin | 1800 c. | Mon 1st June 98 | £ 1035.00 |
Violin | 1810 | Mon 1st June 98 | £ 1035.00 |
Violin | 1820 | Sat 1st March 97 | £ 2070.00 |
Violin | 1817 | Sat 1st February 97 | £ 2070.00 |
Violin | 1836 | Tue 1st September 92 | £ 935.00 |
Violin | 1800 c. | Wed 1st April 92 | £ 1045.00 |
Cello | 1830 c. | Sat 1st June 91 | £ 6380.00 |
Cello | 1820 | Thu 1st February 90 | £ 506.00 |
Cello | 1810 c. | Mon 1st April 85 | £ 3520.00 |
Violin | 1812 | Mon 1st April 85 | £ 410.00 |
Cello | 1810 c. | Sun 1st November 81 | £ 1540.00 |
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