Jean Baptiste Vuillaume (October 7, 1798 – March 19, 1875) was an illustrious French violin maker. He made over 3,000 instruments and was also a fine businessman and an inventor.

Beginning in 1827, at the height of the Neo-Gothic period when many artists were drawing their inspiration from 15th and 16th century cathedrals and monuments, and in order to satisfy the demand of virtuosi and amateurs for great 18th century Italian violin makers, he started to imitate old instruments. Some copies were so perfect that, at that time, it was difficult even for a discerning eye to tell the difference. In 1827, he won a silver medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition.

The following year, in 1828, he set his own business at 46 Rue des Petits-Champs and began creating his own models. His workshop then became the most important in the capital. Within barely twenty years, it became the leading workshop in Europe. A major factor in his success was doubtless his purchase of 144 instruments made by the most celebrated Italian masters, including 24 Stradivari and the famous Messiah Stradivarius presently kept at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford University, from the heirs of an Italian tradesman named Luigi Tarisio, for 80,000 francs in 1855. In 1858, in order to avoid paying the capital's custom-duties on his wood imports, he settled Rue Pierre Demours, near the Ternes, which were at that time outside Paris.

He was then at the height of his reputation, having won various gold medals in the Competitions of the popular Paris Universal Exhibitions in 1839, 1844 and 1855, the Council Medal in London in 1851 and, in that same year, the Legion of Honour. His third period, the Golden Period, continued until his death.

A maker of more than 3,000 instruments - almost all of which are numbered - and a fine tradesman, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume was also a gifted inventor as is demonstrated by his research in collaboration with the acoustics expert Savart. As an innovator, he developed many new instruments and mechanisms, most notably a large viola which he called a "contralto", and the three-string Octobass (1849–51), a huge double bass standing 3·65 metres high. He also created the hollow steel bow (particularly appreciated by Charles de Bériot, among others), and the ‘self-rehairing’ bow. For the latter, the hair purchased in prepared hanks, could be inserted by the player in the time it takes to change a string, and was tightened or loosened by a simple mechanism inside the frog. The frog itself was fixed to the stick, and the balance of the bow thus remained constant when the hair stretched with use. He also designed a round-edged frog mounted to the butt by means of a recessed track, which he encouraged his bowmakers to use; other details of craft, however, make it possible to identify the actual maker of many Vuillaume bows. The bows are stamped, often rather faintly, either vuillaume à paris or j.b. vuillaume. Other innovations include the insertion of Stanhopes in the eye of the frogs of his bows, a kind of mute (the "pédale sourdine") and several machines, including one for manufacturing gut strings of perfectly equal thickness.

Most Great Bow Makers of the 19th century collaborated with his workshop including Jean Pierre Marie Persois, Jean Adam / bow maker, Dominique Peccatte, Nicolas Remy Maire, François Peccatte, Nicolas Maline, Pierre Simon, François Nicolas Voirin, Charles Peccatte, Charles Claude Husson, Joseph Fonclause and Jean Joseph Martin are among the most celebrated.

Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume was an innovative violin maker and restorer, and a tradesman who traveled all of Europe in search of instruments. Due to this fact, most instruments by the great Italian violin makers passed through his workshop. Vuillaume then made accurate measurements of their dimensions and made copies of them. He drew his inspiration from two violin makers: Antonio Stradivari, his favorite violin being the "Le Messie" (Messiah), and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù and the "Cannone" which belonged to Niccolò Paganini; others such as Maggini, Da Salò and Nicolò Amati were also imitated, but to a lesser extent.

Vuillaume made numerous copies of his favorite violin ‘Le Messie’, the more noteworthy among them being:

“	Vuillaume's ideal, and by constant study and cultivation of his own rare natural powers of observation he acquired such an intimate knowledge and judgement of Stardivari's work in every detail, that he might almost be said to be better acquainted with the maker's instruments than the master himself. Vuillaume soon found the sale of violins, issued as new works without any semblance of antiquity, an unprofitable undertaking and, recognizing the growing demand in all parts of the world for instruments resembling the great works of Cremona, he determined to apply his great skill as a workman, and his extraordinary familiarity with Stradivari's models, to the construction of faithful copies of the greatmaster's works. This was the foundation of his success, for the modern copies found a ready sale, and orders poured in upon Vuillaume from all parts of the world. These instruments, imitations though they were, had high intrinsic merit; and it is to be remembered that they were copies made from unrivaled models, with fidelity and care such as only a devoted worshipper and a great master of his art could attain. He spared no pains in striving after perfection in the quality of his materials, and he treated the obscure and difficult problem of the varnish (the secret of which, as applied by the old Italian masters, seems to have died with them) with a success which has probably not been equalled by any other maker since their time. The number of these instruments bearing his name is enormous,upwards of two thousand five hundred being known to exist; and many of them he made throughout with his own hand.... and we have it on the best authority that every instrument was varnished by his own hand." -	”
—W.E. Hill & Sons, London 1902

It is said that Vuillaume was able to craft such a perfect replica of "Il Cannone", that upon viewing them side by side, Paganini was unable to tell which was the original. He was only able to recognize the master instrument upon hearing subtle differences in tone during playing. The copy violin was eventually passed on to Paganini’s only student, Camillo Sivori. Sivori owned great violins by Nicolò Amati, Stradivari, and Bergonzi, but the Vuillaume was his favourite.

When making these copies, Vuillaume always remained faithful to the essential qualities of the instruments he imitated - their thickness, the choice of the woods, and the shape of the arching. The only differences, always the result of a personal decision, were the colour of the varnish, the height of the ribs or the length of the instruments. His most beautiful violins were often named after the people who owned them (Caraman de Chimay, Cheremetoff, Doria). Vuillaume occasionally named his instruments: twelve were named after birds, for example the "Golden Pheasant", "The Thrush" and twelve were named after the apostles such as "St. Joseph". A few others were also named after important biblical characters "The Evangelists" and Millant, in his book on Vuillaume, mentions a "St. Nicholas."

A rare violin by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume (circa 1874, Paris) showcases inlaid ebony fleur-de-lys designs and is one of the last instruments to come out of Vuillaume's workshop, made a year before his death. Crafted for the famous violin dealer David Laurie, "Label reads: Jean Baptiste Vuillaume a Paris, 3 Rue Demour-Ternes, expres pour mon ami David Laurie, 1874", numbered 2976 and signed on the label. It's a copy of a Nicolò Amati violin originally belonging to Prince Youssoupoff (a Russian aristocrat and pupil of Henri Vieuxtemps). Only six copies were made. He also had practice violins, known as "St Cecilia violins", made by his brother Nicolas de Mirecourt.

His main contribution to violin making was his work on varnish. The purfling's joints are often cut on the straight and not on the bias as was traditional, in the middle in the pin. His brand is burnt at a length of 1 cm. There is generally a black dot on the joint of the top under the bridge. He used an external mould. The stop is generally 193 mm long. In this respect he follows to the French 18th century tradition of a short stop (190 mm), which was traditionally 195 mm long in Italy and even 200 mm long in Germany. The violin's serial number is inscribed in the middle inside the instrument. Its date (only the last two figures) in the upper paraph on the back. His violins of the first period have large edges and his brand was then burnt inside the middle bouts. The varnish varied from orange-red to red. After 1860, his varnish became lighter.

In addition to the above-mentioned bow makers, most 19th century Parisian violin makers worked in his workshop, including Hippolyte Silvestre, Jean-Joseph Honoré Derazey, Charles Buthod, Charles-Adolphe Maucotel, Télesphore Barbé and Paul Bailly. Nestor Audinot, a pupil of Sébastien Vuillaume, himself Jean-Baptiste's nephew, succeeded him in his workshop in 1875. Vuillaume died at the height of his career, widely regarded as the pre-eminent luthier of his day.