Franz Albert Nurnberger, Sr. Non-Stamped Late 19th Century Violin Bow

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This is a restoration of an older German violin bow I have had in my collection since the early 1980’s. The Covid time period allowed me to pull everything out, categorize and prioritize my collection of hundreds of older bows. As a young guy totally into instruments and bows, my dad and I spent many weekends collecting and purchasing string instruments in the New York, New Jersey area where I grew up as a kid. This is one of those bows. I’m finally getting to these sticks and having a blast doing the research on them too. This bow is truly a gem, a Nürnberger violin bow from Franz Albert Nürnberger Sr. circa 1870-1885.

We have a non-branded Franz Albert Nürnberger, Sr. (1826-1894) violin bow. Most of his bows were not branded. I believe this bow was made prior to 1880 and is not branded. Franz Albert Nürnberger Sr. learned bow making from his father., Christian Gottlob Nürnberger (1792-1886). Franz first appears as a major bow maker in 1853 and was the primary initiator and one of the founders of the bow maker’s guild in 1888. In 1890 Franz Albert Nürnberger Jr. took over the family workshop and began stamping the family bows. The Nürnberger family also made bows for other fine shops like R. Weichold and Hammig that were not stamped. The hallmarks of Senior – the head of the bow makes an upright impression and has a lightly sweeping form. The nose is just slightly elongated, and the peak of the head wastes no space and is sleek in its width. The stick is well planned and well proportioned; not a journeyman’s bow work. The bow is sleek and firm. A complete WOW! in my book. The frog and the button are based on typical German modeling of the time and the liner has been secured with two fine silver pins. The pernambuco has tight straight grain and a golden orange/brown color with no imperfections. The bow is round in section and the entire bow is in very good condition. The silver endscrew and frog show some normal slight playing wear. We have gone over the entire bow, adding a new tip and thumb leather. A mid to late 19th century violin bow by Franz Albert Nürnberger Sr. This is an outstanding playing stick waiting to draw sound out of an outstanding violin.

Weight fully haired 58.1 grams.