What gives value to a violin bow?

Website design By BotEap.comFor the last 5 years I have immersed myself in the world of violins. One of the biggest surprises for me was that the market for violin bows is very different from the market for violins. Like violins, there seems to be one market for an everyday practice bow and then there’s a different market for the personal bow. That is the one that the violinist will use when he wants to play for his own pleasure or for the pleasure of others. The search for this bow is often the best bow the violinist can afford. It is more personal and more permanent than buying the violin. A musician will maintain a bow through the buying and selling of various violins.

Website design By BotEap.comA good bow has 4 characteristics that I can identify. The first is quality construction. The chosen wood is Pernambuco, also known as Brazilwood. It stands out for its color, its lightness and that it does not deform over time. If the violin bow maker strives to use the best wood, the axis of the bow almost always has six sides.

Website design By BotEap.comBy lightness of the bow the reference is literally to the weight. Most high-quality bows weigh between 56 and 64 grams. This is a weight that good violinists find most comfortable. It is a standard on violin bows both modern and old.

Website design By BotEap.comThe other technical aspect is the balance of the bow. Most high-quality bows have a silver or whalebone wrap just above the frog on the shaft for balance. It also gives the bow a nice look.

Website design By BotEap.comThe history of a bow seems to have a big impact on the quality of the reflection and therefore shows up in the price. Three of the best known names in the world of vintage violin bows are Tourte, Lupot, and WE Hill and Sons. Hill bows best illustrate what makes ancient bows valuable. To this day, the company stands out for producing violin bows of the highest quality. Old examples of these bows have small markings and symbols on the frog, on the shaft, and below the tip that identify which employee made which part that was later assembled into the bow. There is a book that tells the full story of who was employed by this company and what parts it produced from what year to what year.

Website design By BotEap.comQuality bows stand the test of time. It is a fairly simple instrument that has a fatal flaw. It deforms. A bow has camber, the natural bow that maintains tension in the horse’s hair. However, the vast majority of arches will deform laterally over time. By that I mean that when you put the frog on your nose and look down, the bow will bend to the right or left a little or quite dramatically. Any such deformation reduces the value of an arch.

Website design By BotEap.comSo what gives a violin bow value? Like everything in this world, it is the forces of supply and demand. The demand for quality violin bows is increasing with the constant increase in good violinists. However, most violin bows do not survive the test of time. There is a very limited supply of quality antique violin bows and it will never increase. This is similar to the reality of vintage violins. However, the supply is much more restricted for vintage bows than for vintage violins. People who have a quality antique violin bow are less likely to put it on the market, so supply is restricted because of that. The second part of the equation is that fewer ancient bows survived. In our collection we had more than 60 violins. Almost without exception, each of them was in a case with a bow. We were able to repair 50 of the violins. Only 4 bows were in good condition to save. The ones we thought to sell were sold in a heartbeat. I suspect we could have gotten an even better price than we did, which is why we have a couple of very happy buyers. So if you’re looking for a good violin bow, expect to pay a good price, but it’s a lifetime investment.