Vintage chin rests by W.E. Hill & Sons

The W.E. Hill & Sons workshop produced an enormous array of accessories for stringed instruments. As the twentieth century progressed they were at the vanguard of research and development into the chin rest as it became an indispensable part of violin playing. Many of their designs take the names of leading proponents of particular designs including such names as Karl Flesch, Fritz Kreisler and Bronislav Huberman. 

We found a very rare copy of W.E. Hill & Sons catalogue of chin rests, probably printed in the 1950s (we’ll update when we have a better idea). The publication is now so scarce that our copy will be making it’s way to Oxford’s Bate Collection as part of the Fiddle Sticks exhibition celebrating the Hill’s tradition of bow making, but some of us might find an online reference useful.

Many of these designs are still handmade in England, and can be bought from Alexander Accessories. We try to keep a variety of their more popular models in stock in London.

We’ll try to update the blog as examples turn up. In the meantime, here’s the catalogue.