G.A. Pfretzschner German Trade Violin Bow- Markneukirchen circa 1900

click picture to enlarge

Stamped:

Stamped G. A. Pfretzschner on the player side and Germany on the butt facet. The Pfretzschner family were legendary Saxon instrument makers, and the founding of the Pfretzschner atelier in 1700’s brought many of the finest craftsmen of the region together to produce bows and stringed instruments for international distribution. They worked out of Markneukirchen and some of the more famous members of the family were Carl Friedrich, Johann Gottlob, Johann Carl, Elias, Carl Gustave Adolph (maker of our bow), and Hermann Richard, the most famous of the bow making part of the family. The Pfretzschner family continued in the violin industry, especially in bow making, until the 1930’s.

This is another bow from my collection of sticks acquired with the help of my dad back in the late 1970’s when I was a high school kid living just outside of New York City in New Jersey and totally into all things’ violin and baseball. For many years we visited estate sales, private sales and instrument auctions. The bow has been laying in my bow boxes for over 40 years. Yes, it is finally completed.

The skill of workmanship is evident in this trade bow that is round in section, pernambuco specie that tapers artistically to the tip. The layout of this stick is excellent with the camber starting almost immediately after the head, much like a Sartory bow. It has an ebony frog with Parisian mother-of-pearl eyes and a unique slide balanced off by .05 mm strips of silver on each side of the pearl. The bow is nickel mounted and finished with a three-piece silver and ebony adjuster. This is a German bow with nice age in very good condition. Yes, a Pfretzschner trade bow from the early 1900’s, but quite a fine player.

Weight fully haired 59.7 grams