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Originally Posted by jmpiwonka |
Read here; TOURTE Francoise XAVIER Le jeune ( 1747 - 1835 ) most famous maker of all times did not stamp his bows. Initially a clock maker, he went on to designed the modern bow, thanks to his apprenticeship with his father, Louis Tourte Père ( c.1720 - 1780 ) , also bow maker. TourteThe modern bow was approved of around 1785 or 86 by Spohr, who described them as having " trifling weight with sufficient elasticity of stick and the beautiful and uniform bending, by which the nearest approach to the hair is exactly in the middle between the head and the frog" as well as the "extremely accurate and neat workmanship" in Spohr's " Violinschule " published in 1832. Tourte designed it with Viotti's suggestions. Tourte, according to Fetis, fixed the length of the violin bow at 74 to 75 cm, the playing hair at 65 cm, and the balance point at 19 cm above the frog. The weight averaged at around 56 grams. Each bow fetched 15 Louis d'Or, and each bow, unless entirely faultless, was destroyed. He never varnished his bows but only rubbed them with pumice powder and oil. Tourte achieved his bend ( as is still done now ) by heating the wood thoroughly and then bending it. Up to then, bows had been cut at once to the desired bend. The Tourte pattern was followed by Dominique Peccatte, Nicolas Eury, Nicolas Maire, Francois Lupot, Joseph Henry and Persois though these followers did ( especially Peccatte and Voirin ) tended to make bows about 1 cm shorter.
That is a CHEAP 20th century 'not even a Copy' wannabe Bow stealing one of the greatest names in Bows ever. Keep looking on Ebay and you can pick up 100s of Strad Violins also made in Germany '100s of years after he died'.
Tourte/Germany? 
