Bamber, James

James Bamber
fl. 1876
Accrington, Lancashire.

Very little is known about James Bamber, and the only violin known with his label, is from 1876 and has the appearance of the high quality Anglo-French violins that are commonly found with the labels of Hart & Sons in London (see Hart & Sons for greater detail). It is very unlikely that he made those violins, but may have been attempting to develop some business relationship with the leading London dealers of the time.

This is prefaced by two letters that accompanied the 1876 violin when it came for auction, dated from Paris in 1860 from Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, in which it would seem that Bamber was asking Vuillaume to supply him with instruments to all as well as wood to make bows and violins. Vuillaume responded in detail giving prices for all of the above. This is much the same time that the publishing company Cocks & Co were also acting as agents for Vuillaume's violins in London, and it is clear that Vuillaume was interested in unconventional routes to market in England for his instruments. It may be that his enquiries and activities came to almost nothing, or that he was acting as an agent within the industrial North of England, where there was a considerable market for fine instruments.

Benjamin Hebbert
www.hebberts.com