User:StarTrekker/sandbox/project 123


 * User:*Treker/sandbox/project 122
 * User:*Treker/sandbox/project 124

The Clapisson kit or Clapisson pochette is one of the only two pochettes made by the great luthier Antonio Stradivari to survive to modern day.

Creation and design
The pochette was built before 1700, (a false label on it states 1717, it is unknown why it has been added to the instrument) in Stradivari's first era, possibly in the 1760s. It has a body length of 323 mm, upper-bout width of 82 mm, center-bout width of 60 mm, lower bout width of 103 mm, and a body-stop of of 195 mm. In one of his patterns Stradivari remarked that the messurements were those of a puppy, a possible indication that he took a kind of whimsical pleasure in making these smaller instruments. Its four strings were made of the guts of a cat.

With Louis Clapisson
Tarisio, a well-known violin collector, brought the kit from Italy to France where he sold it to luthier Pierre Silvestre. The instrument entually made its way to the hands of French composer and violinist Antoine-Louis Clapisson. Soon after in 1858 Clapisson produced the opera Les Trois Nicolas which featured a short gavotte written as a solo for this pochette performed by Croisilles. Clapisson appears to have found the instrument to be of adequate power and have an agreeable unique tone, as did audiences. The pochette was eventually placed at the Paris Conservatoire Museum, where Clapisson was the first curator.

At the museum
In 1901 it was noted as being unique for being the undoubted work of Stradivari. Copies of this specimen has been used by notable individuals such as Charles Moinel and Max Möckel. Moinel went to the museum and had the measurements taken to so it could be reviewed.

Reception
The Violin Society of America has noted that the pochette is of special historic interest due to the fact that it harkens back to the days of dancer masters and their teachings, and due to the fact pochettes represent a different aspect of a luthiers craftsmanship and artistry, as Stradivari spent just as much time and effort on them as he would have on a violin, lavishing them with care and attention. W. H. Hill and Francis A. Davis described it as being a charming example of Stradiveri's early work.