HARRIS, CHARLES, London, about 1815.
HARRIS, CHARLES. Son of the above.
HART, JOHN, of Princes Street, Leicester Square, London, pupil of Samuel Gilkes, is a maker; and restorer of instruments, in which latter capacity we have pleasure in stating him to be worthy of the extensive reputation he has acquired. He is also a great connoisseur in old instruments, and has the honour of having formed most of the fine collections in this country. The largest price ever given for a Violin was for one imported by him and which from its beauty, model, varnish and perfection of condition is known by the name of the King Joseph Guarnerius. This instrument is considered quite unique and was sold for 700 guineas. The celebrated collection of Charles Plowden, Esq., which embraces four fine instruments of Stradiuarius and four of Joseph Guarnerius, and which is acknowledged to be the finest collection in the world, was also formed by Mr. Hart. Mr. Plowden's taste being highly cultivated, he rejects any instrument which is not of the very highest order, and therefore it reflects great credit on Mr. Hart's judgment to have succeeded in placing so many fine instruments in the collection of so critical a connoisseur. We shall have occasion to mention other celebrated instruments in the Chapters on the Great Masters of the Art.
HASSERT, —— Rudolstadt, 18th Century. Made instruments of a high model, which though he used good wood and finished them carefully, did not possess very good tone. Very few makers have succeeded in imparting superior tone to high built instruments.
HASSERT, ——, Eisenach, 18th Century, brother of the above—adopted a different system, and followed the flatter model of the Cremona School with considerable success. His instruments are remarkable for beautiful wood, and Otto speaks very highly of them, saying that many of them can only be distinguished from the genuine Italians by experienced judges. In the present day we think Otto was partial to his own countrymen's work, and that there are very few German instruments which can be taken for Italian by judges.
HEESOM, EDWARD, London, 1750.
HELMER, CHARLES, Prague, 1740. This artiste was a pupil of Eberle, and is considered a careful workman, but used too light a bass bar, which, unless a stronger one be substituted, depreciates the character of his instruments.
HILDEBRANT, MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER, Hamburg, 1765. Esteemed as a good maker.
HILL, WILLIAM, London, 1740. Made some good instruments, but they are said to be deficient in quality in consequence of being built on a wrong principle, the centres having too little wood.
HILL, JOSEPH, London, 1770, brother of the above. Reckoned a superior maker to his brother, and produced some very excellent Violoncellos which obtained him a good reputation, and caused him to be classed high among English makers, but like the others, he is now depreciated in value below his real merits.