violin bow
François Xavier Tourte “the Younger”
built in Paris
An anonymous violin bow, made in Paris, from the school of François Tourte, with a round shaft, tortoiseshell frog, and gold mount.
History of this instrument
This violin bow comes from the famous “Max Rodriguez Collection,” which consists of four Italian master instruments and sixteen valuable bows. In 1992, the Rodriguez Collection was loaned to the Musical Instrument Fund. In 1997, the owner decided to donate nearly all of the instruments to our foundation, with the exception of a cello and a few bows, which were purchased by the foundation. This bow was also donated. For a long time, the foundation loaned it to Marin Mars. Since 2014, Marta Lemanska has been playing with this bow.
Experts conducted an extensive examination of this bow in 2012 during a public discussion with a panel of various international experts. It proved very difficult to determine with certainty whether this bow was actually made by the famous Tourte. In particular, a few minor repairs to the frog made some of François Xavier Tourte’s key characteristics less recognizable. The bow was subsequently examined by leading experts in Paris, who concluded that while it was not made by Tourte himself, it did originate from his circle. According to expert Peter Oxley, this is the finest Tourte replica he has ever seen.
About the builder François Xavier Tourte “the Younger”
François Xavier and Nicolas Léonard Tourte are often regarded as the bow makers to whom we owe our modern bow. The younger of the two, François Xavier, is sometimes called the “Stradivari of bow makers.” For someone who worked as a...
