R.F. Hoyer Markneukirchen Trade Violin Bow circa 1930-1940

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Stamped:
*R.F. HOYER*
GERMANY on the butt end of the stick

Markneukirchen was the hub for centuries where master makers and apprentices gathered and lived to learn and excel in their craft. The Hoyer family was steeped in the tradition of bow making from the start of 1865 with Carl Adolf Hoyer, the senior (1840-1914). There were three more Hoyer makers who became famous in their own right and in the year 1912 towards the end of his life C.A. Hoyer created a bow making facility/workshop. C. A. Hoyer’s bow factory was said to have been the largest bow making workshop in Markneukirchen. By 1945 the bow making factory ceased to exist and Carl Willy Hoyer, one of C.A’s sons who was the director of the bow making factory at the time, left for Brienz, Switzerland where he continued to use his expertise in bow work and eventually died in 1955. Our R.F. HOYER stamped bow is one of those made by the workshop in Germany, a trade bow yes, but one with good bones, good characteristics, and a quality pernambuco stick in nickel mounts. We carefully went over the entire bow; the tip and the fittings were all in very good condition. The winding and thumb leather were totally chewed up in knots and worn away. After a thorough cleaning of the pernambuco we replaced the winding with identical material and gauge type to keep the traits of balance and gram weight. The tip as well as the frog and endscrew I believe are original to the stick. This is a better than average bow in strength and flex that will help a player move into a real pernambuco stick. Though the stick does not have a lot of provenance the bow has clean lines, nice balance, strength, playability, a little age, and German attention to detail. “Check it out and search the scriptures for yourself”, as my pastor says to see if it is not what I say. So, I say, try the bow and search out the bow to see if it is not true. Violinist, see how it responds on your violin. Sometimes these bread-and-butter bows are fantastic. Remember, it is all about sound on your instrument.

Weight fully haired 60.2 grams