What is this?

[trkkazulu]

High,

I have this bow that i bought in Sweden. It's a German bow and i've never seen anything like it before. I'm attaching photos for anyone who may be able to tell me something about it. As you can see in the pics, it is remarkably different from the usual German bow. Any ideas where and when such bows were made and by whom?

Thanks,

JPW

[David Potts]

It looks like the forerunner of the modern"German" bow. I've seen several before and have heard them called "shark'shead" bows. I believe the deep head and almost straight (or even bent-the-other-wa stick were the style championed by Dragonetti.

DP

[LouisF]

My stand partner in the LA Doctors' Orchestra (who happens to be a real doctor; I'm not!) has one that she got in Czechoslovakia years ago and a) won't let anyone near it; and b) swears by it - and she's a very fine player.

[nathanmcnathan]

I've got a strange french bow with a similar shape... I'm not entirely sure if it was made that way, or the stick's just warped because the bow sucks and I abuse it...

[trkkazulu]

Thanks for the responses. It's good to hear anything about this bow. I like it a lot. It's different than other bows. I had no idea how rare it was. Excellent!

Thanks again,

JPW

[Silversorcerer]

It looks to me like someone put a German frog on a old style French bow. It definitely has an unusual tip, but the screw looks like a usual French bow screw. Cool bow if it works well.

[Felessan]

Originally Posted by David Potts

It looks like the forerunner of the modern"German" bow. I've seen several before and have heard them called "shark'shead" bows. I believe the deep head and almost straight (or even bent-the-other-wa stick were the style championed by Dragonetti.

DP

In the efforts of dispelling misinformation, I believe David is correct. This jives with what I know about the historical development of bows. It looks like something out of England before the modern German-grip bow became popular. Of course, it could be from anywhere, but the English (partly because of Dragonetti) held fast to the archaic styles much longer than any other country.

-Trevor

[trkkazulu]

Originally Posted by Felessan

In the efforts of dispelling misinformation, I believe David is correct. This jives with what I know about the historical development of bows. It looks like something out of England before the modern German-grip bow became popular. Of course, it could be from anywhere, but the English (partly because of Dragonetti) held fast to the archaic styles much longer than any other country.

-Trevor

This is really interesting. Could this bow be really old? It's my favorite bow. I've had it for about two years now and i love it. It's stiffer than other bows. In fact, it isn't possible to get the hair as loose as on other bows.

JPW

[robobass]

Originally Posted by trkkazulu

This is really interesting. Could this bow be really old? It's my favorite bow. I've had it for about two years now and i love it. It's stiffer than other bows. In fact, it isn't possible to get the hair as loose as on other bows. JPW

Could be old, but my guess is that it was made by a folk instrument maker. Someone not obsessed with copying the Italian/continental masters, and just interested in serving his clients. Still, if it plays well and is stiff, you have done well. Just don't be crushed if you find out it isn't worth Sartory money!
Note: How much you can loosen the hair has little to do with the stiffness of the stick!
Robobass

[Steve Boisen]

I've seen quite a few of these bows. It's an older model that is somewhere between the old Dragonetti bow and the modern German bow. The German bow is actually a hybrid between the Dragonetti bow (which had a tip shaped like the one on this bow) and French bow (hence the French style screw). This bow is probably from the period when the features of the German bow were not yet standardized. It might be made from wood other than Brazilwood or Pernambuco as well. It's probably not valuable, but it's interesting from a historical perspective and would be nice for period performances. I had one like this exect that it also had an outcurved camber which is even more like the original Dragonetti bow. I sold it to someone who wanted to restore his bass to original 19th century specifications.

- Steve

[AndreasH]

Were in Sweden did you buy this?