Lapierre began his training at the Thibouville-Lamy firm as a young teenager before working with Francois Lotte, Louis Bazin and the brothers Morizot, among others. By 1948 he established his own shop in his native Mirecourt. This bow is in excellent condition and pulls a smooth, colorful tone.
Poirson was a pupil of the great Nicolas Maire and then went on to work with J.B.Vuillaume where he got to know the great bowmakers of the time. After Vuillaume’s death he worked with Gand and Bernardel. In 1880 at the age of only 29, he had set up his own workshop. This bow has exceptional playing qualities and we consider it an excellent value in that it is nickel mounted.
This beautiful Nürnberger bow has an elegant gold mounted ebony frog and is in exceptional condition. For more information see our discussion of the work of the Nürnbergers in this section.
The Morizot family of bow makers was founded by Louis Morizot and continued by his five sons, all master bow makers. In addition to making bows sold with the L.Morizot stamp, they made fine bows for dealers and shops.
This bow was made for Lucien Schmitt in Grenoble.
Made by Edgar Bishop. Bishop began his career at Hills right after the first world war in 1918 and soon became one of the best maker in that important workshop. Along with Albert Leeson he was responsible for many of the beautiful gold and tortoise fleur d’lys bows.
One of the finest contemporary Parisian makers, Barthe has won prizes in various competitions, including in 2016 in Paris for a viola bow. After studying violin for several years, Barthe embarked on his bowmaking career at the young age of 16, apprenticing with Gilles Duhaut. He perfected his skills with Stephane Thomachot and Jean-Jacques Millant. Since 1997 he worked in Paris, where he continued to seek the advice of the inimitable Bernard Millant. Barthe’s work is reminiscent of historic French making, yet possesses distinct characteristics all his own. The bows are remarkably responsive and supple, drawing a warm, clean sound. They are excellent for any young musician seeking a fabulous modern bow at a reasonable price.
For over fifty years Frank Passa’s San Francisco violin shop was one of the most important on the west coast. In 1978 he brought in Reid Kowallis and Morgan Andersen as bow makers, who had just graduated from the violin making school in Salt Lake City, UT. They made superb bows which were branded F.PASSA SF. Between ’78 and ’82, Reid won several medals at VSA competitions. This is an especially nice example of Reid’s elegant work and is gold mounted.
In 1884, at the age of 22, Eugene Cuniot took over his father’s firm, later adding his wife’s well known last name to his brand. Like most makers around the turn of the century, he was greatly influenced by C.N. Bazin, both in style and business model. Thus he had many archetiers in his workshop and supplied bows to dealers and violin shops throughout France. Despite having up to 12 makers working for him he was able to maintain quite a high level of quality. One of the bow makers, Emile Francois Ouchard, took over the firm in 1910 after Cuniot died. This is a fine bow and is lively and flexible.
As one of the most respected bow makers in France, Franck Dauguin studied first with Jean-Fred Schmittand then with Daniel Scaffi. He set up his own workshop in Lyon in 1991. Since then he’s won numerous awards in French competitions. When he’s in France, Jay Ifshin enjoys traveling to Lyon to See Franck’s beautiful bows.
Lapierre began his training at the Thibouville-Lamy firm as a young teenager before working with Francois Lotte, Louis Bazin and the brothers Morizot, among others. By 1948 he established his own shop in his native Mirecourt. This bow is in excellent condition and was made in 1954.
After winning a number of gold medals in International bow making competitions, Morgan Andersen has become one of the most important bow makers of his generation.
Read the article on Morgan Andersen here.
E.F.Ouchard is considered one of the central figures in French bow making. He trained with E.Cuniot starting in 1886 eventually taking over his firm (Cuniot-Hury) Over the years he trained a number of important makers including his son Emile Auguste. This bow bears the stamp “A.C.” (Albert Claudot). It has excellent playing qualities, strong with a quick response. and is accompanied with a certificate of authenticity from Raffin of Paris..
Pierre Nehr studied bow making for five years with his brother Jean-Pascal and received his diploma from the bow making school in Mirecourt in 1998. Since then he has received awards at numerous competitions all around the world. Pierre Nehr has become one of the most respected bow makers in France.
In the world of bow making, the name Ouchard stands out as among the most important of the early 20th century. Emile François (E.F.), known as Ouchard Père, studied in Mirecourt with E. Cuniot and remained after his master’s death in 1910 until 1922 when he set up his own workshop. He continued to use the Cuniot-Hury brand as well as his own. By 1936 he was joined by his son Emile Auguste. At one point his workshop had 15 employees, including some of the best bow makers of his time.
This fine bow is unstamped and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Rafin stating it to be a genuine work of Emile François Ouchard.
C.Hans Karl Schmidt is generally considered Germany’s finest contemporary bow maker. His work is always beautiful and elegant.
He studied with his father-in-law Kurt Dölling from 1955-56 then working in Döllings workshop and also with Emil Kuhnel until 1969 when he opened his own workshop in Dresden. At that point he had already developed an international reputation and won awards and medals at international competitions.
One of the best American bowmakers, Raguse has made over 1100 bows. He studied with Lloyd Liu and Bill Salchow before setting up on his own in Chicago, and later in Michigan. He has won a dozen awards at various competitions, including gold medal at the VSA in 1980. This bow is an excellent example of Raguse's work.
The firm of W.E. Hill & Sons is generally considered the most important and respected violin dealer in the history of the violin. In addition to their unrivaled importance as dealers of fine old instruments and bows, their workshops produced fine instruments, and especially bows. The bow workshop was active from the end of the 19th. century until about 1970. Many of the finest English bow makers spent their careers in the Hanwell, London workshop.
Paul Schubert (1884-1961) worked first with his father August and then with August Nürnberger Suess. He continued to work with Nürnberger-Suess until he emigrated to California in 1912. Schubert then set up his own Markneukirchen workshop in 1913. He was noted both for the superb quality of materials he used, and for the precise, clean craftsmanship found in each of his bows.