Régis Floury

A luthier who both restores vintage instruments and hand-makes traditional stringed instruments, Régis Floury incorporates ancient, almost forgotten techniques into his work. Having first trained in cabinetmaking then metalwork in Brussels, he went on to graduate from the Institut National du Patrimoine in Paris, before studying under Master Luthier Xaime Rivas at Escola Municipal de Artes e Oficios in Vigo, Spain. He works as a restorer for museums in France and Spain, and custom-makes baroque guitars for an international clientele. Régis Floury is a member of the Fundación Galega de Artesanía, the Société Française du Luth and the Michelangelo Foundation, and features in the España Artesaña directory.

Régis Floury plans to study yosegi-zaiku – a traditional Japanese marquetry technique that is similar to the tarsia a toppo method which has been used since the sixteenth century to decorate musical instruments, guitars in particular, in Europe and especially Italy. Since the Voboam dynasty of luthiers, tarsia a toppo has been widely employed to create the purfling around the instrument’s body and the rosette around the soundhole in a style known as pistagne. During his residency, Floury will compare tarsia a toppo and yosegi-zaiku, with the aim of fusing the two to create a new type of decoration for guitar rosettes. By using a pattern that differs from the traditional chequered motif, he aims to enhance the complexity of decorative inlays and achieve a new level of finesse and aesthetic subtlety. He also hopes to use his residency to introduce tarsia a toppo to Japanese artisans.

Portrait: © Isaura Docampo
1-4 © Régis Floury