A lovely small half sized cello made in France by the renowned Laberte-Humbert workshop in 1910.  
 
The then little known Laberte firm established itself in 1780 presumably as a small family workshop making violins in Mirecourt.  In 1876 the Laberte brothers Maurice-Emile and Pierre Alexis Auguste established Laberte-Humbert following in the footsteps of other well known and successful violin and other instrument workshops in Mirecourt such as Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy.  Presumably to offer a more selective and limited range of high quality violins, cellos, violas and accessories, where as JTL were manufacturing on a huge scale instruments of all types, from flutes to mandolins. 
 
Laberte-Humbert grew from strength to strength throughout the turn of the century, producing some very fine instruments and eventually in 1920 headed by Pierre Alexis Auguste’s son, Marc Labert (1880-1963) who merged the company with the Fournier Magnie firm, which was established in 1775 by Joseph Thiriot.  This new expanse of violin talent and knowledge from nearly 300 years of combined experience making violins led Laberte-Humbert to become one of the most renowned workshops of the 20th Century.  It became very profitable, managing to diversify through the 1930s depression by creating gramophones and radios under the brand name “Stradivox”.  By 1930 the firm employed up to 500 workers.  
 
From 1902 until the second world war, Labert-Humbert employed many of the best luthiers in France, including Joseph Aubry, Charles Brugere, Camille Poirson and Georges Apparut these fantastic makers, under the guidance of Marc Labert produced some wonderful violins which today have more than stood the test of time and will continue to appreciate over this century and presumably next. 
 
In the early 1900s inspired by Marc Laberte’s personal collection of fine and rare instruments such as the famous Stradivarius known as The Rising Sun, along with other instruments by Amati, Guarneri and Lupot etc, the Laberte firm produced their own fine ‘copies’ and models. 
 
Unfortunately the firm didn’t survive through the economic crisis following the Second  World War, and Philippe, Marc’s son was forced to close Laberte-Humbert in 1968, leaving behind a large number of very well made and well respected violins which are still appreciated by musicians around the world today.  
 
The cello is in excellent condition and is professionally set up to the highest standards by our expert luthier and strung with Larsen Magnacore strings.  
 
This would make a very fine cello for a prominent and advancing student. It produces a very fine, focused tone and punches well above it's weight for a small instrument.  But most importantly it is so easy to play thanks to our expert set up and will make studying the cello that much more enjoyable and responsive. 
 
Of course with fractional sized instruments we are always more than happy to purchase instruments back after your child has outgrown them to help fund the purchase of a larger instrument, dependant on the condtion. 
 
The length of the back is 651 mm.