Regis Floury is selling a French romantic guitar by Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy.
This French romantic guitar was made around 1870 by the house of Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy and has been recently fully restored by a specialized workshop. The instrument measures 92 cm in total length, with a body width of 30 cm and a depth of 95 mm. It has a scale length of 63 cm and features 16 metal frets.
The rosette is decorated with engraved mother-of-pearl floral motifs inlaid in black mastic, while the body contours are enhanced by alternating white and black purfling, characteristic of French romantic lutherie. The soundboard is spruce, while the back and sides are made of beautifully figured curly maple (burl maple). The decorative purfling is rosewood. The neck is made of lime wood, lacquered black, and the fingerboard is ebony, as are the bridge, string tie pins, and tuning pegs (in granadillo). The bridge saddle is bone. The instrument is strung with gut and wound gut strings, respecting its original configuration as faithfully as possible.
Upon arrival at the workshop, the guitar presented several significant issues: the neck was separated from the body, part of the fingerboard was missing, five tuning pegs and five string tie pins were absent, and the varnish was no longer original. The soundboard had been stained to hide scratches and defects, and the instrument had cracks in the sides, as well as significant varnish loss and scratches on the back and sides.
The restoration included complete reattachment of the neck, reconstruction of the missing fingerboard section with refretting of frets 9 to 12, manufacture of the missing pegs, thorough cleaning of all surfaces, and lightening of the soundboard varnish to recover the natural wood tone. Subsequently, the instrument was entirely revarnished with shellac. A metal saddle added at a later period was replaced with a bone saddle to restore proper intonation and appropriate string height. A decorative rosewood addition was made to the lower part of the body, and a complete cleaning of the interior was carried out.
Inside the body, a label with the inscription ‘René Lacôte, luthier à Paris’ is preserved. However, after expert examination, it has been established that the instrument was not made by René Lacôte, but clearly corresponds to a production of the house of Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy.
This romantic guitar, carefully restored while respecting its original construction, constitutes a high-quality historical instrument, suitable for a collector, a performer of early music, or an informed enthusiast of 19th-century instruments.
Price: EUR 2900 (+ shipping if necessary).
Contact: regisfloury@gmail.com
