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Violin bow

Alternate name(s)

Treble viol bow
Treble viola da gamba bow

Date1740-1790 ca.

Place MadeFrance, Europe

Place MadeItaly, Europe

Serial No.none

DescriptionThis late baroque bow shows a transition from the swan-shaped head to a hatchet form.

Stick: round; pernambuco; round handle
Head: swan head with hatchet extension at back; tapered tip of nose cut off; back edges rounded
Handle: no nipple
Frog: pernambuco; no slide; narrow and tall; iron eyelet
Adjuster: bone with rounded shape and ball at end
Tip plate: none
Wrapping: none
Grip: none
Dimensions717 mm long
Stick length: 701 mm
Head height: 20.9 mm
Head width (bottom): 9.7 mm
Stick width near tip: 5.3 mm (top to bottom); 4.9 mm (side to side)
Stick width near middle: 7.7 mm (top to bottom); 8.0 mm (side to side)
Stick width at end of handle: 8.9 mm (top to bottom); 9.0 mm (side to side)
Frog height: 24.6 mm (front); 20.6 mm (back)
Frog length (top): 48.0 mm
Frog length (bottom): 53.4 mm
Frog width (top): 7.6 mm (front); 7.4 mm (back)
Frog width (bottom): 10.3 mm (front); 6.3 mm (back)
Weight: 52.2 grams

ProvenanceFrom the Bisiach Collection and acquired by Witten from the heirs, Venegono Superiore, Italy, 1968.
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Published ReferencesPeter Walls, “Mozart and the Violin,” Early Music, Vol. XX, No. 1 (February 1992), pp. 7-29.

Credit LineWitten-Rawlins Collection, 1984

Object number03410

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