Daniel Sinier & Françoise de Ridder
Luthiers, restorers, experts, organologits.

Both Daniel and Françoise studied at the "École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués – Métiers d'Arts", familiarly named "Arza". We opened a workshop in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, and began restoring antique musical instruments for the capital's antique dealers. In 1971, we moved to the 1st arrondissement then, in 1979, we left Paris and set up our workshop in Saint-Chartier, Indre (central France).

From this time on we have dedicated ourselves exclusively to instruments belonging to the european patrimony. This includes restoration, study, appraisal, and trade of instruments considered historic.

Our clients are prominent European dealers, collections both public and private. We also work directly with musicians who, similarly to numerous violinists, prefer to play genuine antique instruments rather than copies.




To support our work on all these collection and museum-worthy instruments, we rely on documents provided by the museums, loans by private collectors, as well as information given by our colleagues, relevant publications, and above all, on our own documentation.

Indeed, in the last 45 years that we have worked on antique instruments, we have taken apart over 3500 guitars, mandolins, lutes, zithers, theorbs, viols, etc. from the most modest guitar to the "Sabionari", the only guitar made by Stradivari now able to play … We have taken notes, photos, drawings, casts and prints. We have uncovered names inside guitars that allow us to authenticate certain factors which can be of use in the assessment of any instrument (model, thickness, bracings, blocks, etc.).

In the past several years, we have trained Jérome Casanova, enthusiast maker, to the art of restoration, historical techniques and the evolution of guitar-making.



José-Luis Romanillos, Daniel Sinier, Jérôme Casanova.

We regularly update our website as well as publish articles in numerous magazines and participate in lectures given at events related to lutherie. We wrote 3 books, "La Guitare"; a "tome 1" is dedicated to guitars made in Paris between 1650 and 1950, from Voboam to Bouchet; a second volume, is dedicated to guitars made in Mirecourt, same period, and a third book "Addendum" came back about instruments made by famous parisian luthiers, Voboam, Pons and Lacote, with up-dates and new informations.



A new book dedicated to historical guitars made in Spain between 1750 and 1950 is now ready and will be soon published.

We make expertises and appraisals about historic instruments for major public auctions in France, and also for collectors and musicians who entrust us with their instruments. After examining the instrument, we can issue a certificate of authenticity establishing precisely the condition, the period, the materials used, the dimensions, the author and its value.

In these pages, we would like to offer you several rare and antique instruments, each coming with a certificate of authenticity. We also include a small text about the luthier who made it. We hope that our instruments will enchant you, and that, like thousands of musicians, you will appreciate the diversity of the lutherie of the authors of the past and the qualities of the sound and the historic "know-how".

Nous vous proposons sur ces pages quelques instruments rares et intéressants.
Ils sont accompagnés d'un certificat d'authenticité. Nous espérons qu'ils sauront vous séduire et que, comme des milliers d'instrumentistes, vous apprécierez la diversité de la lutherie, la qualité de la sonorité des auteurs du passé et de leur savoir-faire.

53 rue des Maîtres Sonneurs
36400 Saint-Chartier, France
sinierderidder@gmail.com