Victor François Fétique (1872-1933)

Victor François Fétique enjoyed the best bow-making training his native Mirecourt had to offer, working for Charles Claude Husson, Sigisbert Maline, Émile Miquel, and Charles Nicolas Bazin. He moved to Paris in 1901 to work for Caressa & Français, where he refined his mature style inspired by his colleague, Claude Thomassin.

In 1913, Fétique opened his own workshop in Paris. Between 1921 and 1926, he hired Mirecourt-based archetiers Thomassin and Louis Morizot père to produce bows which he finished in Paris. He also employed his brother, Jules, son, Marcel Gaston, and nephew, André Richaume, as assistants. 

Fétique’s early bows reflect his Mirecourt masters’ slim design, but his later models combine Charles Thomassin, Dominique Peccatte, and François Nicolas Voirin’s influence. Although his workshop produced a large quantity of bows, those produced by Victor, Jules, Marcel, and André are considered particularly desirable.