Does anyone know anything about these bows?

[Peterhamm]

I found these 2 bows with really nice wood one stamped k.penzel which I’ve never seen before and the other has I think an oxhorn frog. Do yall know anything about them? The k penzel is silver mounted while the other I think is nickle silver. The darker of the two is the penzel since idk if this is gonna mess up the order 

[Peterhamm]

Nobody?

[Blank face]

The unbranded seems to be a rather basic German Abeille wood bow, probably with a later frog, most likely from China.

 The K. Penzel branded has much better pernambuco wood and Goff workmanship, but the very wide adjuster, which appears to be nickel, looks unoriginal, too. Kurt Penzel is the less documented maker of the family, due to his short life 1906-1935, but the head looks reliable for the family style in my eyes. Maybe the three stars were added later, they are somewhat irregular and deeper pressed into the wood.

[Dorisch]

According to their website, he didn’t have his own stamp. So I guess it is just a fake stamp.

Edited June 13 by Dorisch

[Peterhamm]

16 hours ago, Dorisch said:

According to their website, he didn’t have his own stamp. So I guess it is just a fake stamp.

I sent an email to them to see. It’s quite a nice playing bow although the frog is in brutal disrepair. It is despite my horrible pictures silver mounted it’s just hella overexposed cuz I don’t have good lighting in my house 

[Blank face]

On 6/13/2026 at 7:42 PM, Dorisch said:

According to their website, he didn’t have his own stamp. So I guess it is just a fake stamp.

Which website? According to Deutsche Bogenmacher and Lüttgendorf used Kurt Penzel, brother of Emil Max, the stammp K.Penzel. The actual Penzel website is referring to a Kurt, nephew of E.M., who was perhaps a different person. So that's why Kurt (brother) is the last documented family member. 

[Dorisch]

I was referring to the website of the now active Penzel family. I was not aware of the brother. Thanks for clarifying.

looking at the pictures again I agree that it looks like the three stars have been stamped separately.

[Peterhamm]

I emailed them and he said it’s not one of theirs 

[Lisa Chamberlain]

Here’s a link to a bow listed as a 3 star K Penzel. Not sure if that would help to compare to as it’s not verified original either  

https://auctions.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk/catalogue/lot/6073abc76e19ab2494448c2486a2ed65/63b778f7668dabe928d3800924a99077/musical-instruments-lot-2229/

There’s also info in this previous post. My apologies if you saw that already.  

 

[Blank face]

4 hours ago, Lisa Chamberlain said:

Here’s a link to a bow listed as a 3 star K Penzel. Not sure if that would help to compare to as it’s not verified original either  

https://auctions.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk/catalogue/lot/6073abc76e19ab2494448c2486a2ed65/63b778f7668dabe928d3800924a99077/musical-instruments-lot-2229/

There’s also info in this previous post. My apologies if you saw that already.  

 

Yes, the Penzel family tree is somehow confusing, mostly due to the odd fact that there were several "Kurt" named members. Since the linked threat I looked into Deutsche Bogenmacher, where the third Kurt, brother of Max Emil, is mentioned (probably from the 3rd volume of Lüttgendorf), so this one would be the guy with the K.Penzel brand. Obviously the branch of actual Penzels don't see him as "one of us" and might know as less about him than anyone else.

Given that the G&H example is real, the head looks similar in my eyes, the frog of the OP (though I'm not sure if it's original to the stick at all) could be just a different grade with plain eye. But without seeing more bona fide references of his work that's hard to decide.

 

[Lisa Chamberlain]

4 hours ago, Blank face said:

Yes, the Penzel family tree is somehow confusing, mostly due to the odd fact that there were several "Kurt" named members. Since the linked threat I looked into Deutsche Bogenmacher, where the third Kurt, brother of Max Emil, is mentioned (probably from the 3rd volume of Lüttgendorf), so this one would be the guy with the K.Penzel brand. Obviously the branch of actual Penzels don't see him as "one of us" and might know as less about him than anyone else.

Given that the G&H example is real, the head looks similar in my eyes, the frog of the OP (though I'm not sure if it's original to the stick at all) could be just a different grade with plain eye. But without seeing more bona fide references of his work that's hard to decide.

 

Thank you. Yes the heads do look similar. I like the style and the wood.

The frog fits like a loose shoe. It either needs its laces tightened or it’s two sizes too big. If too big, could it have possibly been a bundle upgrade with the stars? 

[Brad Dorsey]

A loose frog could be caused by a poorly fitting replacement, but it could also be that it’s the original frog suffering from various problems and maladjustments.  A skilled bow technician could figure it out. 

[Peterhamm]

Thank you all. So lemme get this straight K.penzel isn’t kurt penzel but it’s another kurt penzel in the same family but not the family dynasty? 

[Lisa Chamberlain]

2 hours ago, Brad Dorsey said:

A loose frog could be caused by a poorly fitting replacement, but it could also be that it’s the original frog suffering from various problems and maladjustments.  A skilled bow technician could figure it out. 

I’d be more concerned with a cheval than a potential 1/2 turn of an eyelet screw.