James William Briggs was a violin maker active in Glasgow during the early twentieth century. He is documented as working in the city from at least 1908, when he inscribed his name and number (156) to the interior of a violin [1], through 1927, when instruments bearing his Glasgow label were produced [3]. The span of his documented activity—nearly two decades—suggests an established workshop practice. Briggs appears to have worked with both new instruments and those by other makers; one documented example bears the label of Augustus Pollastri (Bologna, 1905), subsequently inscribed by Briggs in Glasgow in 1908, indicating possible acquisition, restoration, or resale activity [1]. His instruments span a range of sizes, from a violin of 35.4 cm back length [1] to a larger example at 41.9 cm [2], consistent with standard workshop output.
Sources: [{"index":1,"url":"https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/property/?ID=101345","description":"Tarisio Cozio Archive: Violin inscribed by Briggs, Glasgow 1908, no. 156"},{"index":2,"url":"https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/property/?ID=15374","description":"Tarisio Cozio Archive: Violin labeled James W. Briggs"},{"index":3,"url":"https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/property/?ID=32129","description":"Tarisio Cozio Archive: Violin labeled James Briggs, Glasgow, 1927"}]
We track 3 instrument(s) attributed to James William Briggs in our database.
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