Charles Mennégand

Charles Mennégand was born in Nancy on 19 June 1822. He apprenticed in Mirecourt. In 1840 Mennégand began working with Claude Victor Rambaux at Faubourg Poissonnière in Paris, and remained there for five years. He likely worked in Turin, Italy in the second half of the 1840s.{{Cite book|title=Old Violins and Violin Lore|last=Haweis|first=H. R.|publisher=Empire State Book Co.|year=1922|location=New York|page=261}} He worked with Charles Maucotel from 1851–52, then moved to Amsterdam in 1852 to establish his own independent shop.{{Cite book|title=La lutherie et les luthiers|last=Vidal|first=Antoine|publisher=Maison Quantin|year=1889|isbn=978-1141964659|location=Paris|pages=255}}

Charles Mennégand was a prolific instrument maker during his years in Amsterdam. He returned to Paris in 1857 and established his shop at 26 rue de Trevise, just north of the Conservatoire de Paris. In Paris, his work was largely concerned with making cellos and with repairs and restoration for which he gained renown and won premier place. Like Rambaux, Mennegand was known for cutting down Golden Age Italian cellos which were viewed as too large to meet the demands of the then modern technical standards. This practice has come to be viewed as barbaric, but Mennégand was noted for the clever delicacy{{Cite book|title=A Dictionary of Violin Makers|last=Stainer|first=Cecie|publisher=Longwood Press|year=1977|isbn=978-1-295-56134-6|location=Boston|page=64}} with which he did his first class work. This and his other repair work earned him the designation "consummate repairman".{{Cite book|title=Old Violins and Violin Lore|last=Haweis|first=H. R.|publisher=Empire State Book Co.|year=1922|location=New York|page=261}}

Mennégand's own cellos are "particularly valued"{{Cite book|title=Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers, Volume 4|last=Henley|first=William|publisher=Amati Publishing|year=1960|isbn=0-685-79570-5|location=Brighton and Sussex, England|page=19}} and "sought after".{{Cite book|title=Die Geigen und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart|last=Lütgendorff|first=Willibald|publisher=Frankfurters Verlag-Anstalt|year=1922|location=Frankfurt|page=331}} In A Dictionary of Violin Makers, Cecie Stainer wrote "after his return to Paris [Mennégand] principally made violoncellos, which rank among the best work of the time."{{Cite book|title=A Dictionary of Violin Makers|last=Stainer|first=Cecie|publisher=Longwood Press|year=1977|isbn=978-1-295-56134-6|location=Boston|page=64}} Mennégand mostly used Stradivari patterns though he experimented with slightly altered forms. His instruments are characterized as rich and powerfully brilliant. They owe much of their projecting power to the front plate's depth; this modification was the fruition of experiments with Rambaux in the early 1840s.{{Cite news|url=http://www.amati.com/maker/rambaux-claudevictor-/|title=Maker - Amati|work=Amati|access-date=2017-06-04|language=en-US}}

Charles Mennégand used a reddish-brown spirit varnish with golden highlights and he was very particular about using carefully chosen wood of an even and medium grain. He signed his work internally "C. Mennegand" or used printed labels reading Mennégand / Luthier / 26 rue de Trévise, Paris or C. Mennégand luthier / 26, rue de Trévise, Paris.

In the Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers, William Henley noted "the critical and judicious labour of this eminent maker deserves universal admiration," and that Mennégand's instruments possess a "tonal quality establishing the real desideratum in bright sonority."{{Cite book|title=Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers, Volume 4|last=Henley|first=William|publisher=Amati Publishing|year=1960|isbn=0-685-79570-5|location=Brighton and Sussex, England|page=19}}

Charles Mennégand died on 9 January 1885 in Villers-Cotterets.{{Cite book|title=La lutherie et les luthiers|last=Vidal|first=Antoine|publisher=Maison Quantin|year=1889|isbn=978-1141964659|location=Paris|pages=255}}

• Medal of the 2nd Class, Expositions universelles de Paris, 1855{{Cite book|title=Les Instruments A Archet|last=Vidal|first=Antoine|publisher=Imprimerie de J. Claye|year=1876|location=Paris|pages=235}}
• Bronze Medal, Expositions universelles de Paris, 1867
• Bronze Medal, Paris Exhibition, 1878{{Cite book|title=A Dictionary of Violin Makers|last=Stainer|first=Cecie|publisher=Longwood Press|year=1977|isbn=978-1295561346|location=Boston|pages=64}}
• Premier Place for Repairing{{Cite book|title=Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers, Volume 4|last=Henley|first=William|publisher=Amati Publishing|year=1960|isbn=0685795705|location=Brighton and Sussex, England|pages=19}}

• Abele, Hyacinth. The Violin and Its Story. Translated by Geoffrey Alwyn. London: The Strad, 1905.
• Dilworth, John. The Brompton's Book of Violins and Bow Makers. Usk Publishing, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0957349902}}
• Fleming, James M. The Fiddle Fancier's Guide: A Manual of Information Regarding Violins, Violas, Basses And Bows Of Classical And Modern Times. London: Haynes, Foucher & Co., 1892. {{ISBN|1-165-22289-2}}
• Grove, George, ed. A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. 4. 1889. London: Macmillan and Co., 1879, 1880, 1883, 1890.
• Hart, George. The Violin: Its Famous Makers and Their Imitators. London: Dulau and Company, 1885. {{ISBN|9789333181846}}
• Haweis, H. R. Old Violins and Violin Lore. London: W. Reeves.
• Henley, William. Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers, Volume 4. Brighton and Sussex, England: Amati Publishing, 1960. {{ISBN|0-685-79570-5}}
• Jacquot, Albert. La lutherie lorraine et française depuis ses origines jusqu'à nos jours: d'après les archives locales. Paris: Fischbacher, 1912.
• Lütgendorff, Willibald Leo. Die Geigen und Lautenmacher vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Frankfurt, Frankfurters Verlag-Anstalt, 1922.
• Moya, Hildago. Violin Tone and Violin Makers. London: Chatto & Windus, 1916. {{ISBN|978-0-548-90729-0}}
• Poidras, Henri. Arnold Sewell Translator. Critical & Documentary Dictionary of Violin Makers Old and Modern. Rouen: Imprimerie De La Vicomte; First edition, 1928.
• Stainer, Cecie. A Dictionary of Violin Makers. Boston: Longwood Press, 1977. {{ISBN|978-1-295-56134-6}}
• Vidal, Antoine. La lutherie et les luthiers. Paris: Maison Quantin, 1889. {{ISBN|978-1-141-96465-9}}

• [http://www.amati.com/maker/mennegand-charles/ Charles Mennégand Profile]
• [http://www.martinswanviolins.com/content/tone.htm Review of Violins by Named Makers]
• [https://www.bromptons.co/reference/photography/details/violin-by-charles-mennegand-paris-1861.html Violin by Charles Mennégand, 1861]
• [http://www.europeanviolins.eu/en/list-of-european-violin-makers European Violin Makers]
• [http://www.corilon.com/shop/en/info/mirecourt.html Mirecourt: The Spacious Home of French Violin Making]
• [http://www.musee-lutherie-mirecourt.fr/ Musée de la lutherie et de l'archèterie française] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616124503/http://www.musee-lutherie-mirecourt.fr/ |date=2017-06-16 }}

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Category:Bowed string instrument makers

Category:1822 births

Category:1885 deaths

Category:Businesspeople from Nancy, France

Category:French luthiers