What would you describe as your main skills?
The reappropriation of a savoir-faire. My skills lie here, in the ability to revive an ancient craft, to recreate it by trying to be as close as possible to the historical pieces. As there is no real historical evidence of this know-how – Who exactly was making the rosettes? Was it the luthier? – I had to find my own ways of doing it.
Given this lack of information on the craft, how did you come to understand the making process?
When I look at objects, I like to deconstruct them in my head. I did the same thing with the rosettes to understand their structure. In fact the drawings, which I did with a compass at first, were even more complicated to redo than understanding the structure. In parallel, I built up my own database of patterns collected from iconographic sources.
How do you approach innovation through this historical know-how?
By using tinted parchment, which was rarely applied at the time. I try to suggest them to violin makers for a slightly different look. But innovation is mostly in my other creations, such as my jewels, from which I extract the rosette pattern. I aim to integrate an artistic approach into what I do.
How would you define what you do?
I am an ornament maker. The rosette is simply an ornament, it is there to look pretty, to make people dream. It is not even a visible element on the instrument. I truly cherish this historical culture of hidden ornaments: the culture of beauty and free embellishment, which has been lost today.