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Iconography
Birth : 1801 in Mirecourt (Vosges) Death : 1883 in Courcelles

Biography

Career
In 1814, at the age of thirteen, Georges CHANOT started his apprenticeship with his father, Joseph CHANOT.
In 1819, his brother Francois CHANOT, who was manufacturing guitar-shaped violins with Nicolas-Antoine LÉTÉ, asked him to join their Paris workshop to assist with this production. There he met Jean-Baptiste VUILLAUME who had arrived in 1818.
In 1820 CHANOT left this workshop to join that of CLEMENT to complete his apprenticeship.
The same year CHANOT tried to start his own business at Rue de la Vrillière, but this venture came to an abrupt halt in 1821 when CHANOT joined Charles-François GAND.
In 1823, he finally established his own workshop at Rue de la Vrillière, which would change locations several times : in 1825, 15 Passage Choisel; in 1837, 26 Rue de Rivoli, and in 1847, 1 Quai Malaquais.
Once retired Georges CHANOT continued making instruments, especially copies of Italian masters, some of which are considered his best production.

Collaborators and Successors
After the death of his first wife, CHANOT married Antoinette CHARDON in 1859 who became his collaborator. Copies of MAGGINI violins with double purfling are attributed to her production as well as all the guitars produced by CHANOT’s workshop.
Their son, Marie Joseph CHARDON, born in 1843, later became his father’s collaborator and associate. When Georges CHANOT retired in 1872, Marie Joseph CHARDON took over the workshop.

Works
CHANOT’s work, first influenced by CLEMENT, ALDRIC, PIQUE and GAND, quickly changed.
As soon as 1830, he began producing his copies of Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri del Gesu, buying old Italian instruments from Tarisio, the famous Italian dealer, and gaining a reputation as a great connoisseur of the Italian school.

Labels and Brands
Georges CHANOT used only two labels throughout his professional life :
- The first reads: « CHANOT jeune, Rue ..... N° ... A Paris année 18.. »
- The second printed in gothic characters reads: « Georges Chanot, à Paris 1, Quai Malaquais, Année 18.. » (See Iconography)
- Some instruments, bearing the first label or an Italian Label, and stamped inside « J Chanot », were made in white in 1830 by Joseph CHANOT, Georges CHANOT’s father, when he visited his son. Georges finished and varnished these violins in the years that followed.

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