Attention to details

Often called the finest bow maker of the 20th century, Eugène Sartory was a fastidious artisan whose work shows efficiency and reliability. Richard Morency examines a bow from Sartory’s middle period to reveal his working methods

Held in Paris in 1889, the Exposition Universelle celebrated the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution and the inauguration of the Eiffel Tower. In December of the same year, Eugène Nicolas Sartory arrived in Paris with a few tools, an extraordinary talent, a certain audacity and a great sense of business. This young bow maker, just 18 years of age, was to become one of the most famous craftsmen of his time.

Most bow makers and collectors agree that Sartory’s bows are of great beauty, the result of their unique style, choice of wood and efficiency of construction. How was he able to produce bows of such quality so consistently? What tools did he use, and how did he use them?

A study of Sartory’s bows reveals a number of characteristic details. Looking at the traces left by the tools, one gains a glimpse into his working method, his gestures and movements. While it is tempting to speculate about Sartory’s way of working and the tools he used, we can be certain of little – not having seen the great bow maker at his workbench. Still, we can strive to reach this ideal of beauty in the making of modern bows, or at least draw inspiration from it. Attempting to copy the work of master bow makers of the past can be a formative experience – indeed, a number of present-day bow makers consider it essential to the development of expertise. So let us imagine Sartory in his time, and explore this great bow maker’s art with pleasure, curiosity, humility and all the respect that we owe him.

In a letter to Sartory dated 6 October 1889 – taken from the 2020 book Eugène Sartory by Sartory’s grandson Philippe Dupuy – Charles Peccatte (1850–1918) urged him to come to Paris as soon as possible:

I am not satisfied with the roughing-out of my sticks […] you can come right away and even start on Monday […] Don’t forget your main tools, especially your planes.

FIGURE 2 The bow used throughout this article, made around 1910–15, has the same manufacturing details and characteristics as the bow made for his daughter Renée and presented in the book L’Archet by Millant and Raffin.The latter was made just before Sartory left for his military service in Bourges.

A few months earlier, Peccatte had received a silver medal for the quality of his work at the Exposition Universelle and was doubtless in need of a helping hand. We can suppose that on his arrival the young Sartory, having already trained in bow making with his father in Mirecourt, was put to work roughing out pernambuco sticks. However, his stint with Peccatte was short-lived: he left to join the shop of Joseph Alfred Lamy (1850–1919), where he would develop his technique.

Lamy had also exhibited a bow at that year’s Exposition Universelle (figure 1). This exceptionally beautiful bow, mounted in gold and tortoiseshell, shows all the expertise of this great master. The head of that bow would serve as the cornerstone or foundation of Sartory’s bow model.

The Sartory bow shown in this article was made around 1910–15. It has the same manufacturing details and characteristics as the bow he made for his daughter Renée, dated 4 August 1914.On these two bows, one can notice the same shape for the head, and the same chamfers (figure 2).

METHOD

Given Dupuy’s recollection below, taken from the aforementioned book, there is no reason to suppose that Sartory ever had employees in his workshop, even if it seems unusual for such a highly successful artisan:

My mother never suggested to me that there was ever an employee or a secretary. However, she did recount to me the errands that brought her to visit other craftsmen […] suppliers of buttons, frogs, eyelets and screws, and other accessories.

FIGURE 1 A silver-mounted Lamy bow with a medal from the 1889 Exposition Universelle. That year, Lamy received a silver medal for a tortoiseshell and gold-mounted bow in a model inspired by the work of François-Xavier Tourte. He presented other bows at the 1900 exhibition, where he was rewarded with the gold medal.

FIGURE 3 The back of the head is done without hesitation. The chamfers are a little wider in the turn and show a slight comma.

FIGURE 4 PHOTO ARCHÈTERIE MORENCY. ALL OTHER PHOTOS GUILLAUME D. ST CYR

In light of this, the roughed-out sticks shown in Dupuy’s book are intriguing: did they arrive at Sartory’s workshop in this state? We can easily imagine that a significant part of the roughingout work, on both sticks and frogs, was done outside the workshop by Morizot père, Jules Fétique, Louis Gillet, Prell or Hoyer. However, given the remarkable consistency of Sartory’s bows over the years, there is no doubt that he finished each bow that came out of his workshop.

Sartory was right-handed: both his bows and the marks left on the soles of his planes confirm this. Every bow Sartory made shows his knowledge of French bow making and his approach to the material. In each of the constituent parts of the bow, we recognise the movements, the method and the vestiges of marks left by the tools. The heads show the same flaws and asymmetries as do the frogs and the buttons.

Sartory’s shaping of the bow head becomes easier to understand when we consider his working positions and the tools he used (figure 3). When making a model inspired by Sartory’s work using the traditional French method, it is not we, the artisans, who produce the form, but the form that comes to us. In all steps of shaping the head or the frog, the tool performs virtually the same movement, and it is the bow that moves, turns, and presents the correct angle to the tool. The stick remains under the left arm most of the time, and the bow maker’s elbows stay close to the body.

Eugène Sa rtory in 1906

TOOLS In the final approach to shaping, which defines the volume of the head, a 15cm crossing file seems to produce easily – even unintentionally – all the details that make a typical Sartory head. The line of the curve from the ridge to the cheek of the head on the ‘musician side’ is always quite straight and perpendicular to the head plate.

The ‘audience side’ generally has a hollow and more rounded appearance on the cheek (figure 4). This way of defining the front and the sides of the head with a crossing file affects the shape of the head plate. Thus, when we look at the head from above, we typically see a slender curve on the audience side, and a more rounded curve on the musician side.

The nose of the bow also seems to have been made using the same tool. Shaping the tip of the head with such a file will produce this elongated tip. On some of the original head plates, the ebony liner of the tip is a little thicker. No flat is left, so the peak and the top of the head are always well rounded, and sometimes we cannot see a front ridge.

Finally, the chamfers were made with the same file, and the finishing of the upper part of the bow and the head were done simultaneously. In this way, Sartory went from the knife to the half-round file and then to sandpaper without going back to a previous step or a tool already used.

FIGURE 4 Another Sartory bow of the same period, showing a more rounded appearance on the cheek

FIGURE 7 The flat, round-shaped ferrule

FIGURE 5 The chamfer on the audience side is more pronounced and a little more inclined, shifting the central facet slightly to the right.

IT IS FASCINATING THAT THE FROG SHARES SOME OF THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE HEAD

FIGURE 6 Here we can see the chamfers inside the frog and on the stick mortise

FIGURE 7 PHOTO ARCHÈTERIE MORENCY. ALL OTHER PHOTOS GUILLAUME D. ST CYR

TOOLMARKS

The use of the same crossing file in the execution of the chamfers can also be noted by observing toolmarks. The chamfer on the audience side will frequently be more inclined at the neck than on the musician side. The use of the file in the continuation of the chamfer on the musician side will show a slight comma.

Looking at the underside of the collar, we note that it seems to be slightly shifted to the right (figure 5). The back of the head was shaped only with a knife earlier in the process.

The head mortise shows the same general process on every bow. A hole was drilled with a 4mm bit before the mortise was cut in a rectangular shape to the bottom using a chisel of the same width. Mortise chisels were used to enlarge this rectangle to give the final width at the top of the mortise. Looking inside the mortises of Sartory bows, we see the rectangle left by the chisel and the point left by the 4mm drill bit. The back surface of the mortise is always perpendicular to the surface of the head plate, as we often see in French bows.

FUNCTIONAL RELIABILITY

A characteristic feature of Sartory’s work is that everything was done with a view to functional reliability. The shape of the head mortise gives great lateral strength and makes the bow very easy to rehair. Chamfers are everywhere as needed: on the frog mortise, at both ends of the stick mortise, on the ebony tongue just under the ferrule, under the pearl slide, and on the edges and corners of the frog (figure 6).

The ferrule (figure 7) is made of 0.6mm and 1mm silver plate that was hammered and hardened, and then slightly compressed to give a kind of flat, rounded shape. This gives more strength and resistance to the ebony tongue under the ferrule.

FIGURE 8 The thin lateral sides of the handle at the frog, along with some details of the nose

ALL PHOTOS GUILLAUME D. ST CYR

The shaping of the frog shows the same effectiveness. Everything was done in a simple, fast, efficient way, using practically the same technique as for the head. The silver underslide is made with a smaller centre facet and more pronounced sides, angled at 47.5 degrees. This feature gives great stability to the frog seating and prevents cracks at the frog. It also explains why the two lateral sides of the handle at the frog look so thin (figure 8). It is also fascinating that the frog shares some of the distinctive features of the head. The musician side of the frog practically always shows a flat line.On this side, the nose and the upper part of the frog present a kind of a ‘tube’ appearance. The other side shows a more hollowed-out nose.

The pearl slide channel always seems to have been chiselled out quickly. In the angled cuts of the ebony edges, the movement of the chisel is very often asymmetric. The angled sides of the small ‘heel’ and the pearl slide were adjusted simultaneously and then cut off and separated. The asymmetry is further accentuated by the movement of the file.

On Sartory’s violin bows, the two-piece heel plates are most frequently affixed with one pin in each piece. The pin on the back surface of the frog is always placed at the bottom. It is interesting to note that the best-preserved bows have slight chamfers on the edge at the bottom of the frog.

In the carving of the pearl slide channel, Sartory was not concerned about ensuring that the heel and the pearl slide present the same angles to the sides of the frog. In most examples, they are – just like the ferrule – misaligned. Once again, the characteristic gestures, the method and fast work can be observed in the making, but without any compromise on quality.

In 1939, after a brilliant career and 50 years after settling in Paris, Sartory took part in the New York World’s Fair.His work was appreciated and sought after by the greatest artists worldwide. His fame had spread far beyond the borders of France – so much that he, in turn, was obliged to call on the services of a number of talented bow makers to meet the demand for his bows. His apprenticeships with Charles Peccatte and Alfred Lamy had greatly influenced not only his style and his techniques, but also his methods of production. All his bows are characterised by high manufacturing efficiency and highquality woods. Even with their impressive consistency in stick measurements and bow weights, every bow made by Sartory is unique. Each has its own personality, showing traces of the maker’s method and movements, the hallmarks of his craft.