ARTIST BOW – C BRUNO, Older German Violin Bow, Pre WW I

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This is a very nice German violin bow made for the C. BRUNO & SON Violin firm (1884-1924) of New York, NY. The bow is stamped ARTIST BOW C BRUNO. My thanks to violinist Kathleen Hagan of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for helping in the detective work to figure out the stamp of this bow, players side. Kathleen has a keen eye and discovered a few of the letters in the faint stamp of the bow and the letters (URNO) towards the butt end of the stick. Even with magnifying loops I never discovered the branding or the missing letters with my 60 year old eyes. With her help and the Smithsonian’s help which has four C. Bruno trade catalogues the bow now has the correct labelling. This German bow is perfect for the player looking for performance and not worried about a specific maker. This was a house bow made for C. Bruno & Son. They were a large manufacture/importer of instruments in New York City from 1884-1924. Its founder Charles Bruno moved from Germany to the state of Georgia in 1832. Two years later he moved with his family to New York City and opened a book shop which evolved towards the end of his life into a successful seller and trader of string instruments. Upon his death in 1884, Charles Bruno left the business to his son. The firm did make some of its own instruments but most were just branded and sold by the shop. Bruno was an excellent entrepreneur and with his knowledge of musical history he was able to sell fine instruments and bows all over the country. At the turn of the century (1900) C. Bruno and Son became one of the largest string instrument sellers in New York City. Bruno imported mostly German violins and bows, good quality items to be sold in their shop. This bow would have been made in a workshop in or around the town of Markneukirchen, Germany. The stick has the hallmarks of a very nice bow. Fine pin work, natural dark color pernambuco wood – older specie darker wood, small, dainty mother-of-pearl eyes in the frog and a graceful well-chamfered head. The stick is firm and has a great gram weight that many players look for in a well-made stick. The bow is pernambuco specie, round in section, with an ebony frog mounted in nickel silver. We have added a new sterling silver winding and leathers to bring up the gram weight of the bow. Someone loved this bow, played on it well, and we restored it fully. It is still in very good condition. This bow will help a player sound amazing and perform the articulations they need at a higher level without the need of a sterling silver or gold level bow.

Weight fully haired 60.0 grams.