Amati Affordable auction - A silver-mounted violin bow, unstamped

[Emilg]

Hi, i was keeping an eye on some silver mounted violin bows at the Amati Affordable auction, which ended today.

To my surprise this one got to 5500 pounds / 6450 euro / 7600 dollar

https://app.amati.com/en/auction/1080-amati-affordable-28th-july/238-a-silver-mounted-violin-bow-unstamped

 

I would not call this so affordable  so it may be something more special, any ideas what it could be?

It says unstamped but there seems to be a worn off stamp, quite unreadable.

 

 

[martin swan]

It's a very nice French bow and I have an idea who made it ... but it's light.

This is the sort of thing that benefits from "sleeper hubris" - if it had been correctly attributed and in a more mainstream sale it wouldn't have got as high a price.

 

[Emilg]

Thanks Martin,

52.2g is indeed light, and even with a new thumbleather it would still be only 54g maybe.

Who do you suspect might be the maker?

[Wood Butcher]

I doubt a leather would increase the weight even that much, unless the cows were fed on lead, to make “leadther”.

Its not recommended to feed cows on lead, they prefer grass.

[martin swan]

3 hours ago, Emilg said:

 

Who do you suspect might be the maker?

Barbé ...

But I didn't see it in the flesh and it's kind of a guess. Just observing that the head is very close to Voirin but it ain't Voirin, the frog isn't stylized enough for Thomassin and the thumb projection and throat aren't skeletal enough for Husson. To be honest I haven't seen anything exactly like this bow but Barbé is the closest for me.

A wisp of original lapping don't impress me much - various seedy dealers have such things tucked away to apply to otherwise compromised bows in order to make them look sexy in auction. Also I would say it's a fool's game to buy any bow without hair on it - lifts in the head are easy to conceal, lateral weaknesses in the stick can't be detected etc. Most hairless bows at auction are without hair for a reason - most commonly that they have the strength of an overcooked rice noodle.

[mood2000]

[Emilg]

23 minutes ago, martin swan said:

Barbé ...

But I didn't see it in the flesh and it's kind of a guess. Just observing that the head is very close to Voirin but it ain't Voirin, the frog isn't stylized enough for Thomassin and the thumb projection and throat aren't skeletal enough for Husson. To be honest I haven't seen anything exactly like this bow but Barbé is the closest for me.

A wisp of original lapping don't impress me much - various seedy dealers have such things tucked away to apply to otherwise compromised bows in order to make them look sexy in auction. Also I would say it's a fool's game to buy any bow without hair on it - lifts in the head are easy to conceal, lateral weaknesses in the stick can't be detected etc. Most hairless bows at auction are without hair for a reason - most commonly that they have the strength of an overcooked rice noodle.

I see you have a Barbé in your shop right now.. i can understand the 5500 pounds now if it actually turns out to be a real Barbé. Anyway, someone (or two) will probably have been to the viewing...

[Emilg]

2 hours ago, Wood Butcher said:

I doubt a leather would increase the weight even that much, unless the cows were fed on lead, to make “leadther”.

Its not recommended to feed cows on lead, they prefer grass.

It happens ... maybe ..

[henrypeacham]

Additionally, there was a single double bass in the auction (estimate £10-£20) which went for £4750!

Glad to see that Amati is including double basses in their sales. Basses seem to be completely ignored by the other auction houses. Granted they are not considered solo instruments but there is still a good market for them, woefully underrepresented. Bravo Amati!

[Greg F.]

Weird that all the auction estimates are 10-20 pounds.  I guess that makes all the items "affordable".