Thomas Perry (luthier)

Thomas Perry (Irish: Tomás de Poire; c. 1738 – November 1818) was an Irish luthier who introduced a type of bowed psaltery known as the cither viol or sultana.[2] He is regarded as one of Ireland's most influential violin makers and is often referred to as 'The Irish Stradivari'.[3] Perry's output was quite prolific and his shop has been credited with making over 4,000 instruments. His violins are usually numbered on the button and inscribed just below the button "PERRY DUBLIN".

Thomas Perry
Tomás de Poire
Violin by Perry, published in 1920[1]
Bornc. 1738
County Laois, Ireland
DiedNovember 1818(1818-11-00) (aged 79–80)
Dublin, Ireland
Education
Known for
Notable work
  • The Papini Perry (c. 1780)
  • The Trimble Perry (1769)
  • The Takeuchi Perry (c. 1770)
  • Cruise Collection (c. 1780)
Style
  • Amati style
  • Stainer style
  • Perry style
MovementIrish school
SpouseElizabeth Smyth (m. 1766)
Relatives
  • James Perry (brother)
  • John Perry (brother)
  • Joseph Perry (cousin)
  • William Wilkinson (nephew)
Signature

Biography

Perry was probably born in County Laois, Ireland[4] to John Perry, an established violin maker (died 1787), and worked in the Temple Bar of Dublin.

Career

Perry followed in the footsteps of his father, and began working as a luthier in his shop in Dublin. His earliest documented violin is dated 1764. Perry took over his fathers shop around 1766 and by 1770, Perry had established his business in nearby Anglesea Street. Perry operated the business until he died in 1818. His will indicates that he left his finished and unfinished instruments to his son-in-law, William Wilkinson, along with his working implements and his stock-in-trade. After Perry's death, Wilkinson operated the business under the name of 'Perry and Wilkinson'.[5]

Thomas Perry numbered all his violins and is known to have made more than 4,000.[6] As well as making first-class violins, Perry also made violas, cellos and at least one double-bass, some of which are in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland.[7] He invented the cither-viol or sultana in the 1760s and was renowned for the quality and beauty of his instruments.[8] Tradition has it that Perry was able to copy an Amati lent to him by the Duke of Leinster, but his other models are of a more Tyrolean type or reminiscent of the work of Richard Duke in London.[9]

The violin maker Richard Tobin, who later set up business in London, was one of his apprentices, and Vincenzo Panormo worked with Perry prior to moving to London. His pupils included violin makers John Delany, John Mackintosh, William Ringwood, and William Wilkinson (1771-1838), who married Perry's eldest daughter Elizabeth in June 1794 and carried on the business after Perry's death until 1839.[8]

The Irish violin-making school
Thomas Molineux
c. 1700–1757
John Perry I
c. 1710–1787		Martyn Molineux
c. 1720–?		George Ward
c. 1715–1769		John Ward
c. 1703–1778
Thomas Perry
c. 1738–1818
James Perry
c. 1759–1810		John Delany
c. 1769–1838		William Ringwood
c. 1769–1842		Richard Tobin
c. 1766–1847		William Wilkinson
c. 1767–1830		John Mackintosh
c. 1780–1841
Daniel Compton
?–?		Arthur Ringwood
c. 1812–1860		George Tobin
c. 1809–1861
  • solid lines = Pere-Fils
  • dashed lines = Maitre-Eleve

Instrument list

Violins
  • 1764 (no. 35): The Leixlip Perry, earliest identified Perry instrument[10]
  • 1768 (no. 408): last identified from Christ Church Yard[10]
  • c. 1770 (no. ?): The Longford Perry[10]
  • c. 1770 (no. 418): sold by Tarisio in 2011 (Cozio 23823)[11]
  • 1771 (no. 540): earliest identified from Anglesea Street[10]
  • 1772 (no. 535): sold by Sotheby's on 22 March 1994[10]
  • 1780 (no. ?): The Papini Perry, formerly Cruise collection, used by Guido Papini, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin[3]
  • 1780 (no. ?): Cruise Violin II, formerly Cruise collection, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin[3]
  • 1782 (no. 1144)[10]
  • 1792 (no. 1709)
  • 1795 (no. 2084)
  • c. 1800 (no. 3440): Sotheby's auction catalogue, 22 November 1984, lot 95[12]

Cither viols & sultanas

Viola d'amores
  • 1777 (no. 030): National Museum of Ireland, Dublin[2]
  • 1801 (no. 2038): National Museum of Ireland, Dublin[2]

Cellos & double basses
  • (?): Cruise Cello, formerly Cruise collection, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin[3]
  • (?): Perry Bass, only identified double bass by Perry, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin[3]

Guittars
  • c. 1770: The Takeuchi Perry, Taro Takeuchi collection[14]
  • 1790: National Museum of Ireland, Dublin [1913.397][15]
  • (?): National Museum of Ireland, Dublin [1908.17][15]
  • (?): Victoria and Albert Museum, Dublin [222-1882][15]
  • (?): Sotheby's auction catalogue, 22 May 1986, lot 186, p. 174[15]
  • (?): Phillips auction catalogue, 14 September 1978, lot 41, p. 12[15]
  • (?): Sotheby's auction catalogue, 14 February 1974, lot 34, p. 10[15]

Pochettes

See also

References

Bibliography
  • A. McGoogan: "Thomas Perry: An Eighteenth-Century Irish Musical Instrument Maker", National Museum of Science and Art, Dublin Museum Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 3 (Dublin, 1911), p. 11−14
  • W.H. Grattan Flood: "A Famous Dublin Fiddle Maker", in: The Irish Independent, 24 April 1920
  • Joan Tighe: "Thomas Perry of Anglesea Street, Dublin", in: Dublin Historical Record vol. 18 no. 1 (1962), p. 24−31
  • Jane Ryan: "Thomas Perry and His Violins", in: The Irish Times, 18 August 1978
  • John Kenneth Rice: The Life and Work of Thomas Perry (unpublished MA thesis, Maynooth University, 1993)

Citations
  1. Morris, William Meredith (1920). British Violin Makers (2 ed.). London: Pelican Publishing.
  2. Poulopoulos, Panagiotis; Durkin, Rachael (May 2016). "'A very mistaken identification': the 'sultana' or 'cither viol' and its links to the bowed psaltery, viola d'amore and guittar" (PDF). Early Music. 44 (2): 307–331. doi:10.1093/em/caw047.
  3. Tighe, Joan (December 1962). "Thomas Perry of Anglesea Street, Dublin" (PDF). Dublin Historical Record. 18 (1): 24–31. doi:10.1093/em/caw047. JSTOR 30102744.
  4. Molony, Orla: "Perry, Thomas", in: The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, ed. by Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), p.829–30).
  5. Tighe (1962)
  6. Molony (2013); as above.
  7. Gogan, L.S. (1952). "Musical Instrument Collections in the National Museum of Ireland". In Fleischmann, Aloys (ed.). Music in Ireland: a Symposium. Cork: Cork University Press. p. 303.
  8. Irish Times, William Galland Stuart, 21 September 1973
  9. Brian W. Harvey: The Violin Family and its Makers in the British Isles, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1995. pp 183-185
  10. Rice, John Kenneth (1993). The Life and Work of Thomas Perry (Doctorate). St Patrick's College, Maynooth. p. 57.
  11. "Thomas Perry II, Dublin, c. 1770". Tarisio Auctions. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  12. Boydell, Brian. Brian Boydell Dublin Music Trade Card Index. Dublin: Dublin Music Trade.
  13. "Cither Viol". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  14. "My original instruments". Taro Takeuchi. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  15. Poulopoulos, Panagiotis (2011). "Appendix I". The Guittar in the British Isles, 1750-1810 (PhD). The University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  16. "Kit (Dancing Master's Fiddle) by Thomas Perry, Dublin, Ireland, ca. 1780-1800". NMM Collections. National Music Museum. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
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