AS01/ 20 AGENCY SALE Hand-made, 15 1/2″ Viola by ‘William Piper’. Circa 1983. Sound sample.

Two piece back, wide grain, strong narrow curl, wide grain.  Medium grain  front with narrow curl. Ribs, strong narrow curl, wide grain neck and scroll. Ebony fittings and Wittner pegs.

William Piper was born in 1948 in  West Bromwich, West Midlands. He started playing the violin aged nine and right from that early time wanted to be a violin maker. In 1964, he left school, aged 16 years old, and was apprenticed to Sydney Evans violin shop in Birmingham staying there for 12 years mainly as a repairer, but was taught violin making by David Evans. He made and sold his first violin when 18 in 1967.

He left Sydney Evans in 1977 and worked with the Musical Instrument Repair Company in Halesowen, West Midlands for 2 years then joined Thomas Smith Violins, the oldest established violin shop in Birmingham where he remained for 5 years as a maker and training other repairers.

From 1979 to 1992 he taught violin making at Colton Hills College in Wolverhampton teaching over 100 people.

In 1992, he moved to Droitwich, also in the West Midlands  and was invited to set up his workshop at the nearby Jinney Ring Craft Centre where he remained for 29 years. He is now semi-retired.

He estimates he has probably responsible  making and overseeing the making of 700 instruments, but not all will be accredited to him.