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Violin bow
Maker: John Betts
Date: 1790 ca.
Place Made:London, England, Europe
Serial No: none
SignedBranded on stick and frog (away from player, the lettering oriented up]: BETTS.s[superscript "s" over period]
DescriptionThis bow branded Betts has the visually elegant, tall swan head popular in England at the end of the eighteenth century. Philip Kass has suggested this bow could have been made by Edward Dodd I.
Stick: round; pernambuco; uneven faceting at handle; visible saw marks on handle
Head: high swan head; t-mortise no chamfers on back
Frog: ivory; no slide; angled back corner; pointed leading edge at stick
Adjuster: ivory; flattened shape
Tip plate: none
Wrapping: none
Grip: none
Stick: round; pernambuco; uneven faceting at handle; visible saw marks on handle
Head: high swan head; t-mortise no chamfers on back
Frog: ivory; no slide; angled back corner; pointed leading edge at stick
Adjuster: ivory; flattened shape
Tip plate: none
Wrapping: none
Grip: none
Dimensions721 mm long
Stick length: 702 mm
Head height: 24.0 mm
Head width (bottom): 8.9 mm
Stick width near tip: 5.4 mm (top to bottom); 5.4 mm (side to side)
Stick width near middle: 7.9 mm (top to bottom); 7.7 mm (side to side)
Stick width at end of handle: 7.6 mm (top to bottom); 8.8 mm (side to side)
Frog height: mm (front); mm (back)
Frog length (top): 20.9 mm
Frog length (bottom): 15.1 mm
Frog width (top): 7.4 mm (front); 7.3 mm (back)
Frog width (bottom): 8.9 mm (front); 6.7 mm (back)
Weight: 44.6 grams
Stick length: 702 mm
Head height: 24.0 mm
Head width (bottom): 8.9 mm
Stick width near tip: 5.4 mm (top to bottom); 5.4 mm (side to side)
Stick width near middle: 7.9 mm (top to bottom); 7.7 mm (side to side)
Stick width at end of handle: 7.6 mm (top to bottom); 8.8 mm (side to side)
Frog height: mm (front); mm (back)
Frog length (top): 20.9 mm
Frog length (bottom): 15.1 mm
Frog width (top): 7.4 mm (front); 7.3 mm (back)
Frog width (bottom): 8.9 mm (front); 6.7 mm (back)
Weight: 44.6 grams
ProvenanceLaurence Witten acquired as a gift from Charles Beare, London, 1970.
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten Family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten Family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Terms
Credit Line: Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984
Not on view
Published ReferencesPeter Walls, “Mozart and the Violin,” Early Music, Vol. XX, No. 1 (February 1992), pp. 7-29.
Object number: 03407