YEATES, J. J.
Resident at Weston-super-Mare, 1925. Excellent violinist, conductor of an amateur orchestra and chief instructor in the wood working department at the secondary school. Splendidly made violins deserving of the praises generally bestowed upon them. Consistent workmanship and fine golden brown oil varnish.

YATES, RICHARD
Born at Salford, 1863. Pattern maker. Adept wood worker. Resident at Ardwick (Manchester). Made first attempt in 1884, which was satisfactory in mere workmanship, but less convincing in tone. Consequently studied acoustics, read all available literature on varnish and critically examined all the good violins he could find. Made several instruments purely for experimental purposes and likewise delved into varnish problems. Constructed three on the much discussed principles of August Riechers, which only came out partially satisfactory in tonal penetrativeness. Used Californian pine and birch for the next, which resulted in a firm and free tone but of peculiar timbre. Arrived nearer the goal of his ambition when he produced his seventh specimen. Outline and arching have no exact replication of any of the usual prototypes. Body length, 14.1/16 inches, upper bouts, 6-1/2, middle, 4.5/16, lower, 8.5/16, ribs, 1-1/8 to 1-1/4. Edges nicely rounded and not over prominent. Sound-holes of delicate feminine character. Exquisite waist curves. Entire workmanship exonerates him from any charge of hurry or carelessness. Rather lustrous varnish of own preparation, well applied. Tonal quality (already excellent) obviously unripened, but a quarter century of playing should result in fine and large tone. £70, 1960.
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Richard Yates No. 7
39 Rylance Street, Ardwick.
Jan. 12th, 1900. Manchester.
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YEAKEY, ROBERT L
Resident in Illinois State, 1920. Patented an “Entire Departure from the conventional lines of violin construction”. Body cylindrical in form and positioned directly opposite to the customary way; sound post and bass bar in a modified form are necessarily retained, provided with a chin-rest so shaped as to be extended laterally when in use, and capable of being folded against the instrument when not in use. Of extraordinary appearance, but the inventor promised the quality and volume of tone to be on an equal with that found in hand-made violins of conventional construction, and that the peculiar form involved a simplification in the mode of manufacture by being made almost wholly by machinery.

YEOMAN, SYDNEY B.
Born 1876. Died 1948. Worked entirely for Messrs. W. E. Hill & Sons at Hanwell, as a bow maker.

YOOLE, WILLIAM
Born 1806. Amateur. Pupil of Hardie (Edinburgh), 1844-1851. Capable violinist. Made eight violins and two ’cellos of exceptional merit.

YORK, GILLES
Viol maker, 1605-1612. Little known work.

YOUNG, GEORGE RAIMONDI
Born at Bukarest (Rumania), 1875. English father and Italian mother. Studied medicine at several universities in Europe and America. M.D. Zurich University. Resident at Colchester, 1927. Practised Opthalmic Surgery. Lecturer throughout the British Isles. Author of many articles on Physiological Optics, etc. Died 1936. An amateur, pure and simple, in violin making, but a very clever one. Originally self-taught but found inspiration in closely inspecting some of the famous examples of Stradivarius, Guarnerius and Amati. Eschewed mere copying and during twenty years prior to 1927, evolved his own models, and built 21 splendid examples. Claimed a unique method of preparing and thicknessing the wood (Tyrolese or Swiss, specially taken from trees of his own choosing). Compounded own varnish without claiming any “Cremona” nonsense. Shunned all fads and only sought to produce good “tone pieces”. Workmanship in conformity with absolute perfection Modern masterpieces of art, as far removed from the many “commercial boxes with rubbishy varnish” as heaven from earth. Recipient of much praise from experts and connoisseurs, and gratified that several soloists used his productions. Also made violas of original design and surprising tone. Labels vary: sometimes written in ink, sometimes the embossed name of his New York stationery, but mostly signed with the nom-de-plume of “Raimondi” (mother’s maiden name). Also used a self-carved stamp of box wood. Instruments made at Vevey (Switzerland), New York (where he lived seven years) and Colchester. Those from the last mentioned town are signed “Camulodunum” (its old Roman name).

YOUNG, GUSTAVE
Born at Stockholm (Sweden), 1882. Worked in Germany, England and New York. Employed by Swearingen at Miami (Florida), 1927. Instruments commended as upholding the dignity of the art.

YOUNG, JAMES
Worked at Edinburgh, 1880-1904. Good violins of Guarnerian character.

YOUNG, JOHN
Lived at the “Sign of the Dolphin and Crown” in St. Paul’s Churchyard, London, 1690-1730. Sold various instruments, also “all sorts of Musick” and is said to have made violins, but none are known today. Assisted by his son, Talbot (a professional violinist). The following lines were set to music by Purcell, 1726:
You scrapers that want a good fiddle well strung,
You should go to the man that is old while he’s Young
But if this same fiddle you fain wou’d play bold,
You should go to his son, who’ll be Young when he’s old.
There’s old Young and young Young, both men of renown
Old sells, and young plays the best fiddle in town
Young and old live together, and may they live long
Young to play an old fiddle, Old to sell a new song.

YOUNG, JOHN
Born 1812. Resident at Aberdeen. Died 1866. Stradivarian outline, arching slightly exaggerated, spirit varnish of reddish yellow shade. Also ’cellos of similar style. Branded “Young ABDN”.
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J. Young
Maker. Aberdeen
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YOUNG, THOMAS F.
Born 1868. Worked at Seattle (Washington), 1907-1926. Native spruce generally used for the “deck”. Violins reputed to have a particularly fine tone.

YOUNGMAN, M.
Born at Stanton (Suffolk), 1860. Commenced the art in 20th year solely as a hobby. Decided on becoming a professional, 1890. Settled at Halifax (Yorkshire). Died 1924. Produced 36 violins, one viola (body length, 16-1/4 inches, dated 1917) and seven ’cellos. Stradivarian modelling, also one of own fancy. Original sound-holes, upper and lower apertures slightly oval. Oil varnish of various shades, golden to orange brown, brown and dark ruddy brown, of soft texture and rich transparency. Believed that 90% of the varnish controversy was nonsense, and if a violin in the white fails in tone responsiveness, varnish will not alter it except perhaps to slightly soften it. Sold his violins for the modest sum of £12, ’cellos for £25. Workmanship very accurate. Tone stronger in quantity than quality.
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M. Youngman
Halifax
No. . . . . A.D. . . . .
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YURKEVITCH, MISCHA
Born at Sebastopol (Crimea), 1900. Studied at Markneukirchen, 1915. Opened premises at Carnegie Hall, New York, 1933. Cremonese models, sometimes replicas. First-class workmanship. Oil and spirit varnish of own formula - natural colours only (not aniline). Repairer for Mischa Elman and Heifetz.