The Cost of a Cello Bow – How much should you spend?

Professional Cello Bow Prices: Fine Antique Cello Bows

The most highly prized professional bows are antiques from European masters. To fully understand the cost of fine antique cello bows, we should explore the three main countries where historical bow making thrived.

English Cello Bows 

Many fantastic early modern bow makers were English, and these makers had a big influence on the development of the modern bow.

18th century London enjoyed a booming trade in fiddles and bows, and the Dodd family rose out of this tradition. While English bow makers were cut off from France due to the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, John Dodd I (1752-1839) had seen François Xavier Tourte’s bows and incorporated Tourte’s innovative design in his own bows. 

Dodd began his career as a metalworker but switched to bow making around the 1770s. Ultimately, he created a new style of English bow making that is still palpable today and earned himself the sobriquet “the English tourte.”  Dodd also collaborated with virtuoso violinist Wilhelm Cramer to create the concave bow–the “Cramer bow”–which allowed for greater expression and extended techniques.

The W. E. Hill violin shop in London employed many fine bow makers. Hill bows, especially those made before 1920, are sought after by professional and conservatory students alike for their fine playing characteristics and reasonable price points.

The Hill workshop is also tied to an exceptional archetier, James Tubbs (1835-1921). Trained by his father, Tubbs collaborated with the Hill workshop during the 1850. However, he remained an independent bowmaker, and relationships between Tubbs and the Hill workshop became so tense by the 1870s that Tubb re-stamped the bows he had produced under the Hill brand. Tubbs was one of England’s most prolific archetiers, and his work was so highly regarded that it was frequently copied by French and German workshops, including the prestigious Bazin and Pfretzschner brands.

English cello bows vary in price, from $5,000 for a Hill bow to over $20,000 for the finest examples of Dodd and Tubbs. 

German Cello Bows

Because German workshops produced bows at such a staggering rate in the 19th and early 20th centuries, antique German bows have an unearned reputation as cheap and mass-produced. 

The reality is that so many fine bows were made in the workshops of famous instrument making regions like Markneukirchen that the extensive supply has led to decreased demand.

In fact, Germany had access to some of the best Brazilian Pernambuco wood in the 19th century, as well as highly skilled craftsmen from bow making dynasties. The quantity of German bows available keeps prices moderate compared to other fine antique bows, making them a true bargain!

The most impressive German bows come from three Markneukirchen brands: Knopf, Pfretzschner, and Nürnberger. The Knopf family was the earliest, beginning with Christian Wilhelm Knopf’s (1767-1837) work, which took influence from Dodd and Tourte. The Kopf archetiers stretch across five generations, including Heinrich Knopf (1839-1875) and J. Wilhelm Knopf (1835-1915).

Hermann Richard Pfretzschner (1857-1921) descended from a family of violin makers. He worked in Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume’s Parisian workshop alongside François Nicolas Voirin, and Pfretzschner brought the latest French techniques home to Germany. He was extremely popular with professional musicians and worked at the court of Saxony.

Although the Nürnberger family had a long, rich tradition of violin and bow making, their brand was not formalized until Franz Albert Nürnberger II (1854-1931) and his sons, Carl Albert (1885-1971) and Philipp (1882-1946), grew the family business to reach international prominence around the turn of the twentieth century.

German antique bows can range in price from $1200 for a good Markneukirchen workshop bow to over $10,00 for the finest examples from Pfretzchner or Nürnberger.

French Cello Bows

French archeterie is considered the pinnacle of bow making, beginning with François Xavier Tourte (1748-1835), the father of the modern bow. France drove most innovations throughout bowmaking’s history, and antique French bows are among the most sought-after by professional musicians and collectors alike. 

Cello bows from celebrated French archetiers will start at around $10,00 – $20,000. In this tier, you will usually find bows from Charles Lapierre, Emile Francois Ouchard, the Morizot family, the Lotte family, and the Bazin family.

The next tier of French cello bows, between $20,000 – $40,000, typically includes makers such as Martin, Thomassin, Vigneron, Emile Auguste Ouchard, and others. 

The next level of fine French cello bows for professional players includes bows priced between $40,000 and $90,000 and usually includes work from Joseph Alfred Lamy, Nicolas Sartory, Joseph Henry, Jules Fetique and Victor Fetique, Nikolai Kittel, FN Voirin, Nicolas Maire, Nicolas Maline, Persoit, and Pierre Simon.

The stratosphere of French antique cello bow prices is $90,000 and up. This tier is reserved for museum-quality bows by major historical figures like Francois Xavier Tourte, Dominique Peccatte, and Jacob Eury.