Morrison, John

JOHN MORRISON

c.1780- d. circa 1830
London; Princes Street, Soho, Shadwell & Holborn

For musical instrument making, the period around 1800 was one in which issues of intellectual property created tensions in the trade. In the 1770s Robert Falkner, a workshop foreman of Jacob Kirckman had been making forgeries of Kirckman harpsichords, leading to litigation between the two parties, and from 1824 to 1837 the flute-making company of Ruddall and Rose felt compelled to issue certificates of authenticity, pasted into the cases of instruments that they made. Although intellectual property was a much more subjective thing for violin making, Morrison stands out as really the only maker contemporary to the Forster workshop that actively made and sold instruments of a Forster model under his own name and this evidently led to some hostility between the two. 

From at least as early as 1803, Morrison signed his instruments internally (under the belly) 'from Forsters' conforming that he had been a part of the workshop prior to that point. At the time, working relatively close to the Forster workshop in the Harvey Building on the Strand (the western corner of Bedford Street), but contrary to the signature on his instruments, when Simon Andrew Forster published his History of the Violin in 1864, there is no mention of him as one of the workmen in the shop, and a rather unkind biography: 

Morrison, John, is believed, was born about 1760, and it is not known who taught him the fiddle trade. He had a small shop in Princes Street, Soho, the beginning of this century, but quitted it in 1819, and, after residing in Shadwell for a time, ultimately located in Little Turnstile, Holborn, where he died between the years 1820-30. His work was very common, and he was mostly employed in making instruments for the music houses. - Sandys & Forster History of the Violin, 279. 

Morrison's work falls into three categories. The very best of it, especially cellos, is of a Forster model and in every sense as good as Forster's own work. There are a few technical details to the work, for example the absence of the rounded face of the pegbox sides, and the way that the purfling is inset into the corners that makes his work separate from that of Forster, but it leaves a very strong impression of a craftsman schooled within the Forster workshop, and emulating Forster's own instruments. The second category, which he seems to have largely made for Thomas Cahusac, whose musical instrument warehouse was inconveniently close to the Forster shop, are divided between a Stainer-model violin common to Cahusac's   works, and very good cellos made to the Forster model, but with plainer woods, and using a kind of spruce with wide and very diffuse grain and ink purling. These tend to be varnished with a pale red slightly opaque varnish, and cellos are really every bit as good tonally. The Cahusac-Stainer model does not fair so well, but still makes a fair sounding fiddle. A third category of instruments, mostly cellos, would seem to have been exported to a great extent into America since many of them seem to crop up there. These, invariably brown cellos work surprisingly well, but are amongst the roughest instruments made in London at this period. They are quite often seen with simulated flame on very plain maple. Alfred Hill describes one that he saw in November 1916 thus (I have seen others similar): It was made by Morrison & I noticed that the back, as in the case of another Morrison cello seen by me at Minehead in September, had marks across it, done with a piece of  burnt cork to simulate the handsome figure found in fine Maple; an ingenious method of supplying the demand for good looks which all fiddle buyers make, without calling too heavily upon their pockets. We may add that as the backs were jointed ones, the cork marks took no heed of this fact but went straight through the join the attempted deception was quite an innocent ones. Many of Morrison's cellos are quite well made & it is a great pity that the price he obtained for them did not admit of his using better materials. In 1921 they noted a violin of his making sold at Messrs. Greaves & Sons in Sheffield with the inscription "This is the property of Charles Peace, the notorious Thief and Burglar." 

Labels and Inscriptions: 

Inscription under the belly of a Morrison Cello: John Morrison | Maker (from Forsters) | No. 4 Harvey Building Strand London. | 1803 

J Morrison | Bass & Violin Maker | 14 Avery Row Bond Street / London 1813

Kent's Directory, 1815: Morrison, John, Musical Instrument Maker, 14 Avery Row, Bond Street

John Morrison | Maker | 152 High Street | Shadw. | London. 1824. 

Jn. Morrison / Maker / 44 Princes St. / Soho / London, 1828. 

J. Morrison | from Forster | Violin, Violoncello & Double-Bass Maker | No. 51 | Prince's Street, | SOHO

John Morrison signed and dated internally 1804 LOB 741mm (Courtesy of Bromptons Auctioneers)