violin case
Report a Mistake- Date Made 1969-1970
- Event --
- Affiliation French Canadian, Quebecois
- Artist / Maker / Manufacturer Prévost, Mr. Émile Nelphas
- Object Number 80-546
- Place of Origin Continent - North America, Country - Canada, Province / Territory - Quebec, Municipality - Fassett, Township / District - Papineau
- Category Tools and equipment for communication
- Sub-category Musical tools and equipment
- Department Folklore
- Museum CMH
- Earliest 1969/01/01
- Latest 1970/12/31
- Materials Wood, Textile
- Measurements Length 70.0 cm, Width 21.5 cm, Thickness 21.0 cm
- Caption Violin Case, Saint-André-Avellin, Québec, 1969-70
- Additional Information Nelphas Prévost was born on 7 May 1904 in Saint-André-Avellin, a village in Petite Nation, a former seigneury located in the Outaouais region of Québec, midway between Ottawa and Montréal. In his childhood Nelphas was attracted by nature, and he developed a taste for travel. He was soon working in lumber camps as a cook's assistant, then as a lumberjack and log driver in the forests of Québec and Ontario. In 1930, Nelphas Prévost married Berthe Hayes, a childhood friend. The economic recession was in full swing and jobs were scarce, so the young couple lived with Berthe's parents. Nelphas looked after the farm work and the woodcutting. In the evening they would play cards or dance. One evening, Mr. Hayes, who wanted a violin, asked Nelphas to make him one. After some hesitation, Nelphas set himself to the task and soon the Hayes family and friends were dancing to the strains of his instrument. His talent as a fiddler was soon recognized and admire throughout the seigneury. A few years later, the Prévosts moved onto their own farm at Saint-André-Avellin. Nelphas found a permanent job at the mill in Brownsburg. He would spend his spare time whittling, his imagination set free by the shapes that emerged. He also continued to make violins, which he bartered for minor services. In 1970 he retired and began to spend most of his time making wooden tool-handles for his friends and acquaintances and carving for his own amusement. This case for a small violin was made of a single pine log sawn in two lengthways and hollowed out. A beaver gnawing at a fallen spruce decorates the cover.