France
Beauvais, Northern France

Wood, ivory, bone, gut strings 
1850’s
Length: 17.5 in; Width: 3 in
Strings – Lutes – Violin Family

The violin family was notably associated with dance music during the 17^th century.  They were used in the royal courts and other places of nobility, as well as by street musicians before they were used in churches.   In particular, the pochette was used by dance masters not only during dances, but when teaching as well.  Even the great luthier Antonio Stradivari is known to have made a few pochettes in his career.  These small string instruments were designed to fit in a pocket, hence its common name, the ‘pochette’ (French for small pocket).

This pochette was made by Claude Augustin Chevrier, born in Mirecourt in 1828, and died in 1913. He trained in his father’s workshop and according to the making of his instruments he seems to have done an internship in the workshops of François Gand. Next, he worked at Koliker in Paris, then established a shop in Beauvais, Northern France.  Here, he made pochettes and sold them for 100 to 125 francs to antique dealers. These instruments were sold as authentic pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries. There is a violin attributed to him (Former Snoeck collection) in the Musée de Bruxelles with red-brown varnish, double thread, bearing the label: André Augustin Chevry / Bruxelles 1860.

Resources: https://violindocs.com/auteur/4141/.  Biographies taken from the Universal Dictionary of Luthiers (René VANNES) and La Lutherie Lorraine and Française (Albert JACQUOT)