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Pochette bow

Alternate name(s)

Kit bow
Dancing master's fiddle bow

Date1650-1700 ca.

Place MadeFrance, Europe

Serial No.none

SignednoneDescriptionThis pochette bow is of a design that pre-dates the screw-mechanism frog of the eigtheenth century. It has a frog that fits into a notch on the stick and is held in position by the tension of the bow hair. Frogs of different heights could be used with a single stick depending on the weather condition or preference of the player.

Stick: round; pernambuco
Head: swan tip; square outline to leading edge; rounded outline to back edge; sharply-defined ridge; no chamfers on back
Handle: round
Frog: brown-stained maple; clip in; front end fits into pointed recess in stick
DimensionsStick length: 438 mm
Head height: 10.6 mm
Head width (bottom): 9.2 mm
Stick width near tip: 5.0 mm (top to bottom); 4.4 mm (side to side)
Stick width near middle: 6.2 mm (top to bottom); 6.0 mm (side to side)
Stick width at end of handle: 8.0 mm (top to bottom); 7.9 mm (side to side)
Frog height: 22.4 mm (front); 22.0 mm (back)
Frog length (top): 49.8 mm
Frog length (bottom): 45.9 mm
Frog width (top): 5.8 mm (front); 7.5 mm (back)
Frog width (bottom): 10.0 mm (front); 8.8 mm (back)
Weight: 21.5 grams

ProvenancePreviously owned by William E. Hill & Sons, London, England. Purchased in 1988 from Bernhard von Hünerbein, Cologne, Germany.
Published ReferencesMade for Music: An Exhibition to Mark the 40th Anniversary of the Galpin Society for
the Study of Musical Instruments (Amersham: Halstan & Co., 1986), p. 43.

“Recent Acquisitions Await New Galleries,” Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 16, No. 3 (April 1989), p. 2.

Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 1988

Object number04544

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