GennadyF.

In the archives. Check out my STRAD article June 2021 on the Knopf Dynasty.

Mine was branded "ZIMMERMANN LEIPZIG"

can you post a close up of the brand of your bow? Is it branded Julius Schmidt?

can you be more specific as to which bows you are discussing? My Herrmann bow, according to Schmidt, is c. 1920.

I've had some very nice bows branded J.H. Zimmermann. Yes, indeed there were a number of bow makers supplying bows to Zimmermann. Among them was Friedrich August Herrmann, nephew of Heinrich Knopf, who made bows for him. August Moritz Knopf, who after moving to Russia, worked for Zimmermann in Moscow, where he died of tuberculosis in 1899. The stick of your bow, could be from the Knopf workshop. Enclosed is a photo of the Herrmann bow for Zimmermann which I used to own.

The Russian newspaper from 1819 confirms that Mr. Nevall (a luthier) arrived in Saint Petersburg and was giving guitar lessons etc. That is pretty clear:

I'm pretty sure this would have been Ivan Arkhusen. I have seen many spelling variations in directories and newspapers of his name from 1830-1870 (Arusen/Arguzen/Arkhuzen/Argusen).

BTW, if anyone is interested, my current article is in the December 2024 STRAD issue about the Weidhaas-Finkel dynasty.

Very interesting subject. About five years ago, I got in touch with Claire Givens and Andrew Dipper, regarding Mr. Dipper's copies of the Paganini bow with a similar question (as a few posts above), as to which Paganini bow was it based on? Which they answered: the bow Mr. Dipper copied was from a private collection of Michel Samson, who owns the Paganini bow (or owned at that time). This bow was not presented in Genoa Paganini Exhibit. The original Paganini bow which Andrew Dipper copied, looks very much like the bow depicted in many paintings of Paganini playing. I was always under the assumption that the bow depicted, was probably the Vuillaume steel bow. In 2004, Pierre Guillaume did a presentation of the Paganini bow collection, which included a Nicolas Duchaine c. 1765, Jacob Eury, c. 1810 branded under the lapping, Vuillaume steel bow which Paganini enjoyed and endorsed and N. Lupot c. 1836. Here is what Paganini wrote to Lupot about his bow: "Monsieur, I have carefully tried the excellent bow that you have sent me and I have to say that it could not possibly be better but for your information I have to tell you that not knowing my style of playing, you have not quite fully satisfied my needs. Later I would be delighted to meet you and it will be with pleasure that we can talk of the art which you practice with such success. In the meantime please accept my regards..." And the most fascinating bow of the lot was the mystery bow which Paganini used a lot, It's the one that got broken in Newcastle when he was on tour in England. Fetis explained that Paganini at the time had his bow made at 74cm, which for it's time may have seemed very long. Also, Paganini liked more hair for the bow, so the frog was made a bit wider at the bottom. Apparently Nicolo brought it to Vuillaume to restore, which he did. Pierre Guillaume described the bow: "Undoubtedly this bow was made by an artisan who was not new to the trade but rather was a master of his craft. That said, the bow bears no resemblance to the work of any listed or known bowmakers branding their work at that time. The height of the frog and the head are excessive for work of that period. The model does not correspond to the work of French, German or English bowmakers of the time."

Dear all, my next in-depth article December 2024 is about the Weidhaas-Finkel Dynasty.

To clarify, these Nurnberger bows were sent to Rudolph Wurlitzer (who was Nurnberger's sole distributor in USA). Certainly, they were first branded by Nurnberger with ALBERT NURNBERGER stamp and the year of manufacture above the mortise. When Wurlitzer received the bows in Cincinatti, they were branded *ЯWB* below the mortise (Rudolph Wurlitzer Brothers who ran the shop in Cincinatti at that time after their father died in 1914). The Wurlitzer catalog numbers in the 1913 issue go to around 5373 (if you look at the cello bows p.179). IMO, bows branded with Wurlitzer numbers 5600-5800, would likely be between 1916-1918. Below are 2 pages from the 1913 Rudolph Wurlitzer catalog.

Here is a thread from some years ago on the same subject you might find helpful

Dear all, my next in-depth article about German Master Bow Maker Richard Otto Gläsel, assistant to Claude Thomassin in Paris, will be featured in the April 2024 STRAD magazine.

After much success, E. Sartory signed with Simson & Frey in 1910. By 1913, Samuel Buegeleisen had compromised Sartory’s relationship with his US distributor Simson & Frey, and after 1913, Sartory relied upon exclusive sole agents in the US, such as Henry R. Knopf of New York and Knopf’s good friend E.J. Albert / Violins in Philadelphia and others.

I just came across this very interesting thread. If anyone is interested in reading my publication, let me know or you can look for it online: "Sartory and the Case of Spurious Bows". Incidentally, comparing Knopf making bows for Kittel (1860-1868) and Buegeleisen's fraudulent scheme is not a good comparison. Buegeleisen was a successful "sheister", who also created a fake bow maker Leon Pique and promoted him as if he was from a dynasty of makers. You can also read a short version of my publication in the STRAD February 2019 issue.