José, the Cellist Who Makes Toy Tops

I have an affection for small, hand-crafted, wooden tops and have been collecting them on my travels. A recent find in a small, now-closed toy shop in Paris was a top unlike any other I had seen. It was simply beautiful, and it spun perfectly.

[Photo by Moon Lake Multimedia. All rights reserved.]

Curious about the maker, I contacted the shop owner, who connected me to José Caparrós. He graciously replied to my email, and there began our lovely conversation. When I told him that I write about what people keep, and, in this case, I keep toy tops, he was more than willing to share, replying in French to my questions written in English. With a translation app and a double-check from a friend who has worked as a French translator, I understood his answers.   

José is a cellist living in southern France and comes from a family of refugees from the Spanish Civil War of 1936.  He shared, “I was born in Tarbes, at the foot of the Pyrenees, in 1951. I studied at the Ecole Normale d’Avignon to be a teacher. Music has always been part of my life. I played piano as well as bass recorder in a quartet, and at thirty, I learned the cello, which had always fascinated me. I returned four years later to the Avignon Chamber Orchestra, which is a group of violinists, violists, and cellists, both professionals and amateurs. I stayed with this group for thirty years until chronic shoulder pain prevented me from playing concerts. I still play with pianist friends.”

His interest in creating wooden items began when his daughter asked him to make an endpin stop for her cello. (The endpin is the spike at the bottom of the cello, and the stop is a disc of wood that sits between the endpin and the floor.) “And so I learned to turn wood,” he said.  Soon his cellist friends and luthiers, i.e., makers and repairers of stringed instruments, were interested in his endpin stops as well as his conducting batons and cases.

[Photos courtesy of José Caparrós.]

When I asked about his tops, he said they are not his main production and he creates them only from time to time.

“Like all wood turners, I made tops for children around me.”

José prefers working with wood native to his region, such as cherry, apricot, olive, yew, oak, and especially boxwood, a large amount of which was given to him from a tree-felling on the grounds of Château de Javon, a privately owned property.

To make the tops, José begins by preparing wood cylinders to receive the handle and the steel ball on which the top spins. “The rest of the work is done on the lathe with sharp tools. Unlike many turners, I use few tools: four or five tools are enough. Each has its function.”

[Photos courtesy of José Caparrós.]

Je n’ai pas la prétention de ‘créer’; je ne fais que fabriquer des objets avec le souci de faire le mieux possible, que l’objet remplisse sa fonction pratique, que les toupies tournent bien, que les baguettes de direction soient légères et équilibrées, que les étuis les protègent bien. Au-delà de la fonction, j’ai envie que ces objets soient beaux, que les matières utilisées soient agréables au toucher, que les formes soient simples et pures, que les couleurs s’harmonisent. Tant mieux si mes goûts esthétiques trouvent écho chez certains de mes contemporains. Je suis reconnaissant à ceux qui aiment mon travail, je leur sais gré de me renvoyer une image gratifiante de ce que je fais, et donc de ce que je suis.

José describes his perspective on his work as,  “I do not pretend to ‘create’; I’m just making things with care so that the object fulfills its practical function: the tops spin well, the conducting batons are light and balanced, the cases protect well. Beyond their function, I want these objects to be beautiful, the materials to be pleasant to the touch, the forms to be simple and pure, and the colors to harmonize. All the better if my aesthetic tastes resonate with some of my contemporaries. I am grateful to those who like my work, and I appreciate them sending me a gratifying image of what I am doing, and therefore of who I am.”

[Photos by Moon Lake Multimedia. All rights reserved.]

José didn’t plan a commercial approach to his creations; he “simply responded to requests that were made” of him.

I haven’t met José in person, and yet it’s clear to me that he is a man who appreciates simple, functional beauty.  The care and intention he devotes to his craft are evident in the top that I treasure.

Do you have an object that you just love for its simple beauty and functionality?

[Cover photo from Moon Lake Multimedia. All rights reserved.]