Violin bow
Date1680-1750 ca.
Place MadeEurope
MarkingsnoneDescriptionThis fluted snakewood bow is characteristic of baroque bows of the first half of the eighteenth century. The frog is attributed to Jean Baptiste Vuillaume by Charles Beare as it is virtually identical to two other frogs known to have been made by him.
Stick: fluted (reeded in lower third); snakewood
Head: swan shape with tip cut off
Frog: ebony; form of lion with small white and black glass eyes; hair comes out nose of lion; hair accessed via brass screws holding two parts of lion together; brass eyelet; no lining
Adjuster: ivory; cut threads on screw; probably later
Tip plate: engraved silver; later
Dimensions719 mm long
Playing length of hair: 59.9 cm
Stick length: 704 mm
Head height: 10.7 mm
Head width (bottom): 8.1 mm
Stick width near tip: 4.7 mm (top to bottom); 5.4 mm (side to side)
Stick width near middle: 7.7 mm (top to bottom); 7.8 mm (side to side)
Stick width at end of handle: 8.8 mm (top to bottom); 8.6 mm (side to side)
Frog height: 19.8 mm (front); 10.6 mm (back)
Frog length (top): 46.2 mm
Frog length (bottom): 46.2 mm
Frog width (top): 9.0 mm (front); 8.9 mm (back)
Frog width (bottom): 12.6 mm (front); 10.1 mm (back)
Weight: 58.2 grams
ProvenanceLaurence Witten acquired from Henry Werro, Bern, Switzerland, 1956.
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Published ReferencesAndré P. Larson, The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion: National Music Museum, 1988), p. 52.
“Dipper News,” La Voce of Claire Givens Violins, Inc., Summer 2009, back cover.
Credit LineWitten-Rawlins Collection, 1984
Object number03389
On View
Not on view
1690-1760 ca.
1770 ca.
1800-1850 ca.
1650-1700 ca.