French bow frog and button

[Freiabereinsam]

I have two nice French bows with replacement frogs and buttons. They are superb sticks which is why I felt it my duty to “rescue” them. One is a silver CN Bazin and the other a Thomassin. I kind of like the idea of making them whole…not because of any notion of increased value but more for the historical significance…. Is there a repairer or contact that you know of who might have a stock of old bow fittings from broken sticks? I have to imagine someone like this exists. 

[Jwillis]

I’d suspect you’d be hard pressed to find someone willing to sell their frogs if they had them. Probably easier to find someone to make you a nice replacement frog in the appropriate style 

[Jack Devereux]

Try Adam Goltry. I don’t know about having the parts on hand, but he would be the guy for the work. And could certainly make some beautiful replacement frogs and buttons in the correct style for the makers. 
 

His website is https://goltrystudio.com/

[Dwight Brown]

I have a Lapierre viola bow with a replacement frog. It is every bit as good as the complete Lapierre I owned for many years that FedEx destroyed. The truth is it’s probably a better frog with a better fit to the stick than the one he made himself. I actually am suspicious that it may always have had this frog and it was just bought in for a big order! I think there are definitely bow makers who could make you a nice replacement frog though. 
 

DLB

[Jwillis]

11 hours ago, Dwight Brown said:

complete Lapierre I owned for many years that FedEx destroyed

Ironically FedEx managed to crack to frog on my Lapierre bow as well!  Only bow Ive had damaged during shipping. Fortunately, Rod Mohr fixed it like new 

[Dwight Brown]

45 minutes ago, Jwillis said:

Ironically FedEx managed to crack to frog on my Lapierre bow as well!  Only bow Ive had damaged during shipping. Fortunately, Rod Mohr fixed it like new 

Mine was the whole tip of the bow was snapped off.  The shop that was restoring the frog had really good insurance and that paid for the bow.  It later sold at Tariso broken for more than I paid for it originally !

DLB

[Freiabereinsam]

Thanks for the thoughts! To clarify, I have working frogs and buttons on them but would love to have find originals. But of course if I don’t find some, it’s not the end of the world. They’re great playing bows. 
 

Really it just made me wonder what happens to frogs and buttons that lose a stick over time. 

[Dwight Brown]

26 minutes ago, Freiabereinsam said:

 

Really it just made me wonder what happens to frogs and buttons that lose a stick over time. 

I think years ago bows did not get the respect they do now.  It could be that the frogs got replaced instead of repairing the original.  These days we would never do that.  I have a feeling that my LaPierre was purchased for the restored Ivory and silver frog.  I thought it was sort of unusual but it allowed the insurance company to recover some money.  I never thought much about LaPierre being a big deal bow maker.  My bow was kind of quirky but it was light years better than the maybe a Pfretzschner  war club that I had.  ( yes I had to look up how to spell Pfretzschner!).  I hope you have some luck with your search.

DLB

(Dinner, Lunch, and Breakfast)

[Brad Dorsey]

21 hours ago, Freiabereinsam said:

...what happens to frogs and buttons that lose a stick[?]...

Most of us who work on bows have collections of frogs, buttons and other parts that have been salvaged from irreparably damaged sticks.  I have dozens of silver-mounted and nickel-mounted frogs.  I also have many little boxes and jars containing buttons, screws, ferrules, eyelets, button rings, heel plates, underslides, pearl slides and pearl eyes.  These things are all sorted and organized to make it easier for me find just the bit that I might need to replace something missing or damaged on any bow I am working on.  I can fabricate just about any part I might need (including frogs), but finding a part in my collection is faster and easier.

A frog that is recognizably the work of a specific bow maker will ideally end up on a stick by that maker whose original frog has become lost or irreparably damaged.  But many frogs, and other parts, are fairly generic, so they can find happy homes on any sticks where they fit well and where they are stylistically appropriate.

[Lisa Chamberlain]

There are repair stashes around as Brad mentioned. I bought a large collection of nicer older frogs from an east coast shop luthier archetier that closed. It’s still on my bucket list of To Dos to try to identify them but for now they are going to be mounted in a shadow box frame until I can ID them. 
Do you know what the original frogs to your bows might have looked like? 
Also for older French bow work you may want to check with Lynn Hannings.