Skip to content

Help musicians
travel with
their bows

Did you know that the ferrule—the part of a bow that holds the hair in place—is sometimes made from materials such as sea turtle shell and mammoth ivory? This makes international travel very difficult for musicians. If we replicate and replace the frogs on a few bows, musicians will once again be able to perform in other countries without worry. Will you help?

News
2 February 2024 by Indy de Vries

Fragile slippers

In addition to the bows made from protected materials, there’s something else going on. Bows are incredibly fragile. Some of the top-quality bows in our collection are showing signs of wear. As a result, cultural heritage and an important reference for the future are being lost. This is a shame, because these bows are far too beautiful not to be played with. For these bow sleeves, too, replication and replacement are the perfect solution.

Costly precision work

Thanks to your support, bow maker Michael Yeats was able to replace the first sleeve in December 2023. The sleeve was showing signs of wear, and small cracks had become visible in the ebony. The original sleeve is now carefully preserved in our archives. Yeats created an exact replica to ensure the bow retains the same playing characteristics. This is extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming craftsmanship.

On to the next one

In February, Yeats replaced the second ferrule on a bow made by Persoit in Paris in the mid-19th century. Now violinist Hawijch Elders, who has this bow on loan, can play it again with confidence! We hope to replace the other frogs as soon as possible. Then we can make the next musician happy!

Support this project

We want to replicate a total of about 10 bow cases. These are the bow cases of extremely valuable French bows by François Tourte (school), Jean Pierre Marie Persoit, and Joseph Henry. To preserve these 19th-century bow cases, we are aiming to raise €7,500.

Then 10 musicians can cross the border with peace of mind—and with the right bows.

Click the button below to read more about this project. Thank you very much for your help. Let’s save the slippers!

Check out our special projects