Pemberton, John
John Pemberton
reputedly active 1578
London
John Pemberton is mentioned in many nineteenth-century sources as an early violin maker (I think his name first arises in Hawkins' 1776 History of music). I have no idea where his name emerges from prior to that but he is traditionally associated with the monogram IP 1578 inscribed on a washer in the form of a tudor rose that is part of the endpin arrangement on the conversion of the Warwick Castle Citole into a violin. This is infact a known Goldsmith's mark of the period. Except that IP made the silver-gilt fittings for this instrument he has nothing to do with violin making, and it is unclear how the identification of John Pemberton has arisen.
reputedly active 1578
London
John Pemberton is mentioned in many nineteenth-century sources as an early violin maker (I think his name first arises in Hawkins' 1776 History of music). I have no idea where his name emerges from prior to that but he is traditionally associated with the monogram IP 1578 inscribed on a washer in the form of a tudor rose that is part of the endpin arrangement on the conversion of the Warwick Castle Citole into a violin. This is infact a known Goldsmith's mark of the period. Except that IP made the silver-gilt fittings for this instrument he has nothing to do with violin making, and it is unclear how the identification of John Pemberton has arisen.
Authors: Benjamin Hebbert
