Johannes O. Paulus Sterling Silver Viola Bow-Markneukirchen circa 1970

click picture to enlarge

Stamped

The Paulus family of bow makers began with Otto P. Paulus (1891-1969) who started his bow making firm in Markneukirchen in 1923. His son Johannes (JOHS O. PAULUS 1916-?) began his apprenticeship with his father like many German makers. He also trained from Adolf Kurt Schuster, for whom his dad worked, up until Schuster’s death in 1947. Johannes established himself independently in Markneukirchen in 1955.

This viola bow is typical of Johannes Paulus´ work: it is his standard model with a squared viola frog and shows his usual detailed craftsmanship. The mounts are silver and ebony and the bow weighs 66.2 grams. The bow is well-balanced and possibly could be used on a violin as well as a viola. The bow plays that nicely. The bow is pernambuco specie, octagonal in section, and there is a darker orange/red/brown color to the stick. The bow is completed in sterling silver mounts. We cleaned the bow and gave it a new sterling silver winding and goat leather thumb before fresh hair. The head is upright and the edges of the octagonal have been lightly rounded. The frog shows the large three-part eye, ebony, and silver ring. The end button is three parts, nicely completed with a matching white abalone eye on the end. Excellent craftsmanship from an experienced bow maker. The stick is lively when played off the string. It is slightly on the firm side, middle of the scale in terms of strength. The bow is in excellent condition and bears three stamps.

Weight fully haired 66.2 grams