1819-1854 - High Street (Bloomsbury)
Guitar maker Louis Panormo was born in Paris in 1784, the son of an Italian luthier. He moved to London in 1819 and set up a workshop at no. 31 High Street, Bloomsbury, where he built a variety of stringed instruments including guitars. Composer and classical guitarist, Barcelona-born Fernando Sor was in London from 1815 to 1823, a time in which he built a reputation as a virtuoso. He directed Panormo to built guitars to his requirements. Panormo labels stated that his guitars were the ‘only maker in the Spanish style’. He continued to work in London until 1854, after which it is believed that he emigrated to join his son in New Zealand. An estimated 150 of his instruments survive.
