Cultivating wisdom

The ability to identify the maker of a bow is a rare talent that requires a keen eye and a wealth of knowledge. Jacques Poullot gives some pointers as to how to acquire such expertise

Points of interest to violin and bow makers

French bow making as we know it today dates back to the 1780s with the pioneering work of François Xavier Tourte. To understand the progression of bow making in France, and indeed throughout Europe, we must therefore be familiar with almost 250 years of historical practice. Starting with the adoption of pernambuco as the principal bow wood and the standardisation of the main models (apart from those used by double bassists), it is possible for us to recognise the different bow makers from times past.

A wealth of books are available for bow devotees to improve their expertise

Before that time, bows were made either by the instrument makers themselves, or by anonymous craftsmen. They were considered mere accessories, the same as cases, rosins and pegs.

Indeed, for a long time bow makers in Mirecourt were nicknamed accessoiristes by their luthier colleagues, who never hid their disdain for our noble profession. It took quite a while before specialist bow makers could garner the same kind of reputation and success enjoyed by their peers in the violin making world. Equally, there were few luthiers or dealers who took much interest in bows and bow makers. In the first years of the 20th century Charles Nicolas Bazin was still selling bows from his Mirecourt workshop by the dozen, and even by the gross. As a consequence, knowledge of individual bow makers and their craft was sparse, and it was up to a few passionate individuals to use their expertise to put together the first reference works for bows. There were those, such as Pierre Vidoudez in Geneva, who produced catalogues to present their collections or the new bows produced in their workshop. These have been moderately useful for enthusiasts, but the photos were always in black and white.

The earliest known serious work on bows and bow making was Chicago collector Joseph Roda’s Bows for Musical Instruments of the Violin Family, published in 1959. This was followed 17 years later by Étienne Vatelot’s Archets français and in the 2000s by Millant and Raffin’s L’archet. This was a logical continuation and extension of Vatelot’s work, although it was organised chronologically rather than, as in the earlier work, alphabetically.

These volumes are invaluable reference sources, but nothing compares to the oral transmission of knowledge or one’s own personal experience of hundreds of bows. I used to be astounded when I saw colleagues trying to recognise a bow maker’s work by putting the bow on top of a picture in the Vatelot book! It is essential to write notes in large notebooks, take photos and make sketches, as a drawing helps you memorise the forms and outlines. Assessing the quality of the materials used, identifying the gestures of fast-working makers who repeated the same process so many times – this is the path to true expertise. Also, attempting to copy a particular bow allows one to understand how each maker used their tools. And dismantling a bow for restoration is often as useful as examining its external appearance: we can recognise the little habits of each maker, from pencil lines to the cleanliness (or not) of the internal workmanship, to the positioning of the mortise and so on.

In addition, one must keep in mind the historical circumstances and living conditions of each artisan. A bow maker who worked at Vuillaume’s workshop in Paris was well treated and earned a decent living, whereas in Mirecourt everyone went from one workshop to another, just to earn a few extra centimes a week and improve their daily lives.

KEEP IN MIND THE HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND LIVING CONDITIONS OF EACH MAKER

Jacques Poullot at work on one of his own bows

ALL PHOTOS JACQUES POULLOT

Branding their bows was not widespread either, as the fine ironwork needed to make the brands was a very specialised practice. For this reason, we need to find other ways of dating bows.

For example, there was a period in Mirecourt, around 1925–30, when the buttons were finished in pernambuco rather than ebony, which had become rare. This can help date the bow and narrow down the possible makers. The other day a dealer asked me why there was a very marked drop in the quality of pernambuco among French makers around 1850. In reply, I sent him a maritime map of the slave route from Le Havre to Recife in Brazil, and explained that once the slaves had disembarked, the empty ships had to have ballast, and took with them stocks of the heavy, resaleable pernambuco wood. This was mainly for making red dye, but also bows. The abolition of slavery in 1848 put an end to this odious traffic, and thus created a shortage of pernambuco.

Finally, it is useful to bear in mind the three categories that French experts use to estimate a bow’s value. Category 1: a bow entirely made by the person named on the brand (or at least largely; for example C.N. Bazin, who made all the heads himself ). Category 2: a bow made in the signatory’s workshop, under his direction. This is valued at 50 per cent of a Category 1 bow. Category 3: a bow from ‘the school of ’ the signatory, i.e. made by a student, or students of a student. This has a value of 25 per cent of Category 1.

IDENTIFYING A BOW MAKER

To recognise the maker of a bow, I can recommend a short, logical sequence of points to check.

• First of all, check the consistency of the work between the tip and the heel; the quality of the pernambuco and ebony; the quality and deftness of the workmanship

• Examine the shape of the head, and whether the face plate is flat or rounded. Look at the frog: its dimensions and shape, and whether the slide, and whether the eye is Parisian or not

• Is the button long, short, tapered or not?

• Most importantly: never focus on the brand, but on the general impression

The second stage is to look at the different aspects of the bow in more detail, considering the bow’s geographical origin and time period. Both your memory and your gut feelings are important here.

• Examine the head in more depth: work on the sides, face plate and the working of the chamfers

• Check mortises, forms, distance, depth

• Confirm with the details and criteria that you are sure of

TRANSLATION BY CHRISTIAN LLOYD