BAUSCH Viola Bow- Leipzig/Dresden Area of Germany circa 1900

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For over three centuries, German luthiers have supplied musicians not only with serviceable and affordable instruments but also their bows. This bow is from the early 20th century. From the late 1700’s through 1945 the violin was the most popular form of musical entertainment, next to the piano. To meet the demand, a thriving industry developed in a remote area of eastern Germany on the Czech border, a region known as Western Bohemia. The center of this instrument making industry was the town of Markneukirchen in the state of Saxony. The Bausch family made bows there for four generations, starting with Ludwig Christian August Bausch in 1820’s. The Bausch family made superb bows sold as their own and marketed unstamped bows to other shops in Germany, such as the Heinrich Knopf shop, until 1876. The “BAUSCH” branded bows were still being made while the Bausch shop was under the management of the Paulus family from 1876 into the 1920’s.

Our Bausch viola bow shows excellent workmanship. The art of bow making is three crafts in one: woodworking, jewelry work, and hair dressing. This is a very exacting art in which few people really excel. The Bausch bow has tight grain older wood, and the color is dark chocolate brown. The grain is tight; therefore the bow is firm in its makeup. The bow is finished in sterling mounts and the silver and ebony three-piece endscrew has the typical Bausch double rings in the collar of the end cap, a sign of their French making influence. The ebony frog has single mother-of-pearl eyes – no silver rings. The frog and endscrew are original to the bow. We meticulously went over the entire bow, replacing the deteriorated winding and leather thumb grip and replaced the facial bone tip. The bow was at first cleaned very well before the new winding was completed. It is a beautiful old school viola bow that plays powerfully and smoothly that brought out the core of the viola on the G and D strings so very well. The bow is light in the arm, balanced, easy to control, and truly grabs the strings. The stick is gorgeous to play on with its strength. Wow, this bow makes the lower bass strings pop. It handles with ease and has some nice flex. Another older German bow that is awesome. This Bausch bow is all about quality, attention to detail, exacting discipline to a craft, choice wood that the family had and protected for one and a half centuries, classic color, and a strong but light stick that will help your instrument respond.

Weight fully haired 70.8 grams