Monday 18 April 2011

J P Guivier - Mortimer St W1

I don't play the violin or in fact any stringed instrument but I have a fascination and a fondness for England's oldest violin dealer - J P Guivier on Mortimer Street.  I love the jaunty window display, the sense of calm that seems to reside inside and just the fact that here in busy central London there is a shop wholly dedicated to selling violins, violas and cellos.  Anyone who has read Howard Jacobson's The Finkler Question (and if you haven't you should - it's great) will recognise Guivier's as the location of the main character's mugging.  But don't let that put you off - I have stood and stared into this wonderful shop many a time without being assaulted (at least to date).  It seems as though shops like this are increasingly rare in central London - perhaps driven out by high rents or the demand for a new Pret or Starbucks so I feel particularly protective of them.  So if you are in the market for a violin, please buy it here!  Otherwise, give yourself a moment of calm in your busy west end day and spend some time, just like Finkler, staring in at one of central London's loveliest shops.

6 comments:

  1. Where do you find these shops?? I have walked down Mortimer Street so many times and never noticed a violin shop! Now I will look out for it!!

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  2. You know what I love even more...the Ukelele shop on Hanbury Street!

    http://www.dukeofuke.co.uk/about_duke.php

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  3. Nice on Krista - great shop on a great street (and site of Nude Espresso).

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  4. What a great comment about our shop. Its always nice to hear these sort of remarks. You should pop in and say hello sometime. Dominic

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  5. I will definitely do that Dominic - glad you liked the post.

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  6. In the early 1900s the Weston steam car was sold by Weston Motors operating out of 14 Mortimer Street. Imported from Grout Brothers Orange Mass. the Weston would have been sold to wealthy customers who would probably have also known about the violin shop. There is an early example of a Weston steam car in York Castle museum.I would be interested to learn anything I can about Weston Motors and their marvelous steamer.

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