Beautiful Non-Stamped Older German Violin Bow circa 1910-1920

click picture to enlarge

The hub of German bow making for almost three centuries was the area around Markneukirchen, Germany. Many shops specialized in making bows because of the tremendous output of the violins being made. An area of growth led to a new area of need. Our non-stamped German bow is a beautiful piece of older pernambuco, round in section with a blind eye ebony frog that is very nice too. The frog helps set this bow apart from any generic trade bow. The mother-of-pearl slide is the entire length and then capped off with a mother of pearl heel to the back of the frog. The silver plate between the frog and the stick is pinned in place. The endscrew button is a solid silver endcap. This bow is one of those non-labeled higher level violin bows made for the instrument making trade. The stick made its way as an export to our country with a case and instrument prior to World War I. I obtained the bow as a young man growing up in the New York/New Jersey area in the 1970’s and mid- 1980’s. I started getting serious about my violin playing and apprenticeship work at the age of 13. My dad and I would spend many hours going to sales and estate auctions purchasing old violins and really any string instrument. Currently, in 2024 I have close to 400 older bows still to restore here in the workshop. On this bow I had to replace the winding and leather as well as the tip as the face on the bone was broken at the very tip and cracked on both sides of the upper mortise area. The frog shows some natural playing wear and the overall condition of the bow is very good. The bow plays well and is lightweight in the hand. This is a sleeper bow. Great older bow with no maker’s name.

Weight fully haired 60.8 grams