Wilhelm Dürer Sterling Violin Bow– Saxony-Anhalt, Germany circa 1910

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This is another bow from my collection, originally obtained with the purchase of a German violin and bows in the case back in the late 1970’s early 1980’s. The stick has sat in one of my large boxes of bows for close to 45 years. As a young guy I was totally into three things: violin, baseball, and umpiring. My dad would accompany me to estate sales and various instrument auctions in and around the New York City/Northern New Jersey area for many weekends. In 2020 I got serious about getting my entire collection of nice bows and violins prioritized to be completed. I still have about 120 instruments to get to and about 300 bows. I love restoration work and on average complete one or two of my own items each month. This is one of those bows, a fine Wilhelm Dürer sterling silver mounted violin bow. A trade bow for sure, but just wait– much nicer than I ever thought at first. The wood choice and the craftsmanship are way above average.

This bow was made in Eisleben, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany by the Wilhelm Dürer company and workshop circa 1910. The Dürer shop made various quality violins and bows from 1900-1930. The quality of the stick is better than nice, and the head and frog work were carved at a high level. This was not a bow made by a second or third year journeyman. The stick is pernambuco specie, round in section with sterling silver mounts. The bow is firm but with some nice flex. I could have left the tip but it had a slight chip out of the side of the bone facial. The stick is very nice, so I decided to restore it by removing the old ivory and replace it with an entire new piece. Yes, the sterling silver winding too, which with the leather thumb was nasty and chewed up for sure. The two leathers are in goat and the winding is 4.0 millimeters longer than the original to help with the balance and add just a tad of weight to the bow. The frog and endscrew are original. This bow is beautiful, with a delicate head, all hand cut in the chamfers. The stick is strong due to the dense grain, and tapers through the camber which happens quickly from the head. I really like how the stick is measured. It handles well, is balanced in the hand, and feels like a feather. This will make a great bow for the player looking for a slightly lighter stick that plays awfully well. This is a very decent pernambuco bow that has age, German bones, and is in excellent condition once again.

Weight fully haired 55.6 grams