As soon as Corelli (1653-1713) formulated the principles of the technique of the violin, marked modifications in the construction of the bow became noticeable. Tartini, who began during the second decade of the 18th century to gauge the capabilities of the bow, introduced further improvements, such as a lighter wood for the stick, a straight contour, and a shorter head, in order to give better equilibrium. The Tourtes, father and son, accomplished the rest.
After Francois Tourte, the following makers are the most esteemed: J.B. Vuillaume, who was directly inspired by Tourte and rendered an inestimable service to violinists by working out on a scientific basis the empirical taper of the Tourte stick, which was found in all his bows to conform to strict ratio;[18] Dominique Peccate, apprenticed to J.B. Vuillaume; Henry, 1812-1870, who signs his name and “Paris” on the stick near the nut; Jacques Lefleur, 1760-1832; François Lupot, 1774-1837, the first to line the angular cutting of the nut, where it slides along the stick, with a plate of metal; Simon, born 1808, who also signs his bows on the stick near the nut; John Dodd of Richmond, the greatest English bow-maker, who was especially renowned for his violoncello bows, though his violin bows had the defect of being rather short.
The violoncello bow is a little shorter than those used for violin and viola, and the head and nut are deeper.
The principal models of double-bass bows in vogue at the beginning of the 19th century were the Dragonetti, maintaining the arch of the medieval bows, and the Bottesini, shaped and held like the violin bow; the former was held over-hand with the hair inclining towards the bridge, and was adopted by the Paris Conservatoire under Habeneck about 1830; the great artist himself sent over the model from London. Illustrations of both bows are given by Vidal (op. cit. pl. xviii.).
Messrs W.E. Hill & Sons probably possess the finest and most representative collection of bows in the world.
(K. S.)
[1] “Bow,” the forepart or head of a ship, must be distinguished from this word. It is the same word, and pronounced in the same way, as “bough,” an arm or limb of a tree, and represents a common Teutonic word, seen in O. Eng. bog, Ger. Bug, shoulder, and is cognate with Gr. πῆχυς, forearm. The sense of “shoulder” of a ship is not found in O. Eng. bog. but was probably borrowed from Dutch or Danish. “Bow,” an inclination of the head or body, though pronounced as “bough,” is of the same origin as “bow,” to bend.
[2] See F.J. Fétis, Antoine Stradivari, pp. 120-121 (Paris, 1856).
[3] Fétis, op. cit. p. 123.