Fritz Ziegler Sterling Silver German Workshop/Trade Bow circa 1950
$870.00
click picture to enlarge
Stamped:
FRITZ ZIEGLER
butt of the bow, GERMANY
Fritz Ziegler was a violin maker and shop owner. Ziegler owned a violin shop but did not make bows. It was a common practice to commission bow makers to make unstamped bows for your shop and then turn the bow into your own house brand. This practice brought in a steady stream of revenue for work, and they were almost always paid in advance for their craftsmanship. This is a branded bow from the Ziegler workshop and made in the vast Markneukirchen area which was the hub of German bow makers. It is a sterling silver mounted bow that has a Parisian eye rounded frog. The sterling rings in the frog have different wider (2.0 mm.) rings around the pearl eyes. The mother-of-pearl slide is gorgeous pink, green, and blue coloring. The pearl is one of the most iridescent pearls encased in silver slide I have seen in a long time. The endscrew is indicative of other Ziegler violin bows I have seen. The sterling silver endscrew has a thin 3.0 mm bead of ebony in the center. We have replaced the silver winding and added new leathers to bring this bow to a sweet spot in the balance and overall feel of the bow. This model violin bow, always in sterling silver, nice stuff, was made for the Ziegler shop for a span of years that I could not determine. The frog and endscrew are associated with this name and definitely gives the bow a slightly different look. Pernambuco wood, round in section. Sterling silver mounted. I’m sticking with a very nice German trade workshop violin bow from the mid-20th century.