Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content; see the help pageCharles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin (1841–1923) was a distinguished French maker of violins, violas, cellos, basses and bows. He was an Officier de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts and won gold and silver medals at the Paris Exhibitions in 1878, 1889, and 1900.
He was the son of luthier C. L. Collin, and father of Charles Collin-Mezin, Jr., also a luthier.
The Henley Dictionary of Violin Makers [1] gives him a long and glowing report.
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Born in Mirecourt, Collin-Mezin apprenticed with his father. Some sources say he worked for a period in the Brussels workshop of Nicolas-François Vuillaume [2]. In 1868 he moved to Paris where he established himself as one of the premier French luthiers of his day. His instruments were considered superior over other new violins.
Collin-Mezin was friends with influential people who helped popularize his instruments. He was also connected to musical luminaries of his day, whose opinions he sought out.
A number of famous violinists played on his instruments, and praised their quality and playability, including Joseph Joachim, Sivori, Léonard, Marie Tayau, and Jules Armingaud, who considered a Collin-Mezin equal to a Stradivarius for flexibility of sound. The famous cellists Franchomme and Jacquard played on Collin-Mezins.
Like the best French luthiers, his designs followed in the tradition of the famous Italian schools Stradivarius, Guarnerius, and Amati, although he developed his own unique varnish.
His instruments are also characterized by a powerful and unusually brilliant tone, but also possess a harshness. Musical historian William Henley, in his Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers (1959), suggests that this harshness could be eliminated with "many years of strenuous playing," which would then certainly enable the instrument to be played by an active soloist.
Henley records “Benjamin Godard's Concerto Romantique was first performed at a Pasedeloup Concert, Paris, 1876, by Marie Tayau on a Collin-Mezin violin with (what was then an innovation) E and A steel strings suggested by the maker, which rather points to the fact that he is attempting to get brilliance and clearness at the expense of purity." Steel strings are more popular today, though they tend to be used more by students. (More advanced players and professionals prefer synthetic or gut core strings wound with metal, and an all-metal E string.)
From 1868–1876
From 1876 onwards
His later violins