Rudolf Neudorfer was born and studied bow making in Luby, Czechoslovakia. In 1964 he escaped to the West by posing as a ski instructor at the Innsbruck Olympics. He worked in Switzerland at the Finkel workshop and moved to Bubenreuth in 1973. In the 1980’s he won several awards at various competitions including the VSA.
This beautiful viola bow has an elegant gold mounted tortoise-shell frog, offered at a very attractive price.
Wilhelm Hammig was born and trained in Markneuirchen with his father Wilhelm August. He worked with Carl Grim in Berlin. He worked in Markneukirchen and Frankfurt before settling in Leipzig in 1875.
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.
After working with several German master bow makers, Paul Weidhaas settled in Markneukirchen, opening his workshop with Siegfried Finkel. He traveled a great deal to work with other makers. He spent time in Amsterdam and Paris where he worked with Victor Fetique. He became one of the most important and respected German makers of the mid-20th Century.
Born in Ukraine, Alex Friedman moved to Germany where he began his career repairing pianos. As a bassist from age 17, he came to specialize in repairing, then making acoustic basses. Emigrating to the USA, he opened The Acoustic Bass Shop in South San Francisco, becoming a magnet for the best acoustic bass players in Northern California.
This beautiful bass was awarded an Honorable Mention at the International Society of Bassists competition in 2011
This beautiful flat-back is striking in appearance with engraved ornamentation on both the top and back.
For 39 years Gerald Kagan was the assistant principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He was also well known as a bow maker as well as a creator and designer of fine jewelry. This elegant cello bow is typical of the high degree of craftsmanship he had become well known for. The unusual slide is of pearl and engraved gold.
Bernard Ouchard was an important figure in the history of 20th century French bow making. He studied with his father, the great Emile Auguste, After service in the French military, he moved to Geneva as the bow maker for Vidoudez where he stayed for over 20 years. In 1971 he returned to his native France where he was the professor of bow making at the Mirecourt School of Lutherie. He taught many of the best French bow makers of the last 50 years. We’ve recently been very fortunate to have had several bows by this important maker.
Roger François Lotte studied with his father François, taking over his father’s workshop around 1960. He was very successful, supplying bows to dealers all over the world. This bow is unstamped, has a replacement frog, and is priced affordably.
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.
A beautiful Weichold bow with an exotic wood frog and a distinctive three piece button.
Otto Paulus and his son Johannes worked together for many years, taking over the Schuster workshop in the 1950’s. The Paulus family of bow makers is today in its fourth generation, still making excellent bows in Markneukirchen.
At the beginning of the 20th. century, some especially fine violins were made in Germany, especially in Markneukirchen. Many of these were often referred to as “Art Violins” because of their beauty and quality. The violins labeled “Carlo Micelli” were sought after, especially in this country. The label of this violin is hand inscribed “Master Art” indicating that it is of exceptional quality. Tonally, this violin is truly exceptional, offering a lot of violin for the money.
Violins labeled “Paolo Fiorini” were of high quality generally from the 1920’s, made in Markneukirchen. These “Art Violins” were among the best being made in Germany at that time. In fact, ads from the U.S. distributers sometimes claimed them to have been made in Italy.
Kurt Arno Gutter studied with O.B.Heinel in Markneukirchen, then worked in Berlin with Glaesel and back in Markneukirchen with H.T.Heberlein before opening his own workshop a