AS01/ 87 Circa 1899 Scottish 4/4 violin. Labelled: James W Briggs .

One-piece  back  of fine grain maple with regular, strong horizontal curl. Ribs, neck and scroll to match.  Front, regular medium grain spruce . Red amber oil varnish.

Length of body: 35.8 cms. String length:  33 cms. Stop length: 19.5 cms.

James Briggs  (1855- 1935). He  was born in Wakefield in 1855 and was apprenticed to William Tarr of Manchester,  but then set up his own workshop in Wakefield in 1876. His work was awarded a gold medal at the Leeds Exhibition in 1890 and later he  received diplomas for his work in Paris and Vienna. Briggs and his family moved  to Glasgow in 1893 where he and his workshop thrived and was taken on by his son Harry in 1931 who continued to trade until 1949.