Poulton, Robert
Robert Poulton
Active 1800-30
Kingston-upon-Hull, Chapel Lane
One Robert Poulton is recorded as born at Chapel Lane in Hull in 1773, and is probably the same person named on the label of a violin R. Poulton / Musical Instrument Maker / Chapel Lane. Hull.1827 noted in William Henley's Universal Dictionary but his instruments are extremely rare and we have not seen nor heard of another labelled example. Recently I have seen the repair label (illustrated below), new neck / made by / Rt Poulton / Hull sept 26 / 1828.
A violin brought to us in 2016 came with the opinion of the Leeds firm of violin dealers, Balmforth, stating it to be the work of Poulton [Poulter]. In this case we defer to local knowledge of other Yorkshire makers. The workmanship of the violin is in keeping with the considerable community of working around Leeds in the early nineteenth century, amongst which Dearlove features heavily, but the model is much closer to the 'modern' London style of the 1820s than is found in most north-of-England violins, closely corresponding to works by Jacob Fendt in particular. Nevertheless the violin is made from locally sourced sycamore and the belly shows the same wide-grain characteristic of lowland spruce that is common in North-of-England and Scottish making of the same period. The presence of whalebone purfling was of particular interest, as this is very unusual in British making of the time (though some violins by Panormo are reported to use it also). Poulton's presence in Chapel Lane, near to the dockside in 1820s Hull places him at the centre of the whaling boom, surrounded by large numbers of 'whalebone manufactories' that were converting the material into commercial produce. Of all the violin makers in the whole of Britain to make with whalebone, the circumstantial evidence for Poulton is uniquely strong.
Although evidence is circumstantial, my view of the violin was that Poulton is one of several 'Dearlove-school' makers who had spread around Yorkshire and the North of England (including Thomas Smith in Sheffield, James Brown in Huddersfield or Thomas Absam in Wakefield) and there is a compelling case to accept Balmforth's opinion of this violin as a characteristic example of his work, copying the most fashionable new making from London. On the basis of this, we expect that other examples of his work probably exist with attributions directing towards Fendt and the Panormo families whose work it superficially resembles.
Last updated August 2019.
Active 1800-30
Kingston-upon-Hull, Chapel Lane
One Robert Poulton is recorded as born at Chapel Lane in Hull in 1773, and is probably the same person named on the label of a violin R. Poulton / Musical Instrument Maker / Chapel Lane. Hull.1827 noted in William Henley's Universal Dictionary but his instruments are extremely rare and we have not seen nor heard of another labelled example. Recently I have seen the repair label (illustrated below), new neck / made by / Rt Poulton / Hull sept 26 / 1828.
A violin brought to us in 2016 came with the opinion of the Leeds firm of violin dealers, Balmforth, stating it to be the work of Poulton [Poulter]. In this case we defer to local knowledge of other Yorkshire makers. The workmanship of the violin is in keeping with the considerable community of working around Leeds in the early nineteenth century, amongst which Dearlove features heavily, but the model is much closer to the 'modern' London style of the 1820s than is found in most north-of-England violins, closely corresponding to works by Jacob Fendt in particular. Nevertheless the violin is made from locally sourced sycamore and the belly shows the same wide-grain characteristic of lowland spruce that is common in North-of-England and Scottish making of the same period. The presence of whalebone purfling was of particular interest, as this is very unusual in British making of the time (though some violins by Panormo are reported to use it also). Poulton's presence in Chapel Lane, near to the dockside in 1820s Hull places him at the centre of the whaling boom, surrounded by large numbers of 'whalebone manufactories' that were converting the material into commercial produce. Of all the violin makers in the whole of Britain to make with whalebone, the circumstantial evidence for Poulton is uniquely strong.
Although evidence is circumstantial, my view of the violin was that Poulton is one of several 'Dearlove-school' makers who had spread around Yorkshire and the North of England (including Thomas Smith in Sheffield, James Brown in Huddersfield or Thomas Absam in Wakefield) and there is a compelling case to accept Balmforth's opinion of this violin as a characteristic example of his work, copying the most fashionable new making from London. On the basis of this, we expect that other examples of his work probably exist with attributions directing towards Fendt and the Panormo families whose work it superficially resembles.
Last updated August 2019.
