violin bow

In 2014, Nicoline Meiners donated this Morizot violin bow to the Musical Instrument Fund. She was trained as an archivist and was the owner of Antiquariaat Lorelei, a bookstore in Amsterdam run by and for women. This was the first antiquarian bookstore in the Netherlands to feature a very extensive collection of both feminist and anti-feminist literature. From the bookstore’s founding in 1982 until her death in 2017, she also organized countless lectures there, known as the Antiquarische Salons. Among others, author Andreas Burnier was a guest on Prinsengracht in Amsterdam, where the store was located. Ischa Meijer also spoke at the Antiquarische Salons and was a regular customer. At the beginning of the 21st century, the rent there became too high, so she continued running her shop from home.

She saw herself as a guardian of the literary heritage written by women. A few years before her death, she inherited a violin and a bow from her aunt. This aunt was a piano teacher in Amsterdam and played the violin as a hobby in an amateur orchestra. Unfortunately, Nicoline Meiners herself became seriously ill and knew she did not have long to live. That is why she sought a good home for the violin and the bow, and came across the Musical Instrument Fund. Since then, many violinists have enjoyed playing the bow. Caitlin Ensor held the bow for no less than 6 years, after which it was Valérie Langendonk’s turn. Maaike van Dijk also played with the bow for a year; currently, Timur Yusupov is the lucky player of the bow from Mirecourt.

Interview with Nicoline Meiners
Biography by the Huygens Institute
Atria, Knowledge Institute for Women’s and Emancipation History, on Antiquariaat Lorelei