John Dodd I (1752-1839)

John Dodd I (1752-1839) spearheaded the development of the modern English bow, going down in music history as “The English Tourte.” Initially a metalworker, Dodd’s career took him to Paris to explore advances in screw mechanisms. There, he encountered François Xavier Tourte and his revolutionary bow model. Dodd switched to bow making around the 1770s or 1780s, and he brought Tourte’s style home to England.

Despite his massive influence on English archetiers, details about Dodd’s professional life are scarce. He seems to have made most of his bows, stamped “Dodd,” for the Lambeth and Kew markets, and he also produced bows for the Betts, Forster, and Banks workshops. When his agent, John Norris, died in 1819, Dodd’s business began to decline, and a struggle with alcoholism led him to the workhouse, where he eventually died in 1839.

Although his life ended in obscurity, Dodd remains one of the most influential English archetiers, and his bows are highly sought after by modern players and collectors alike. Dodd’s style changed throughout his career, following the exciting developments in late eighteenth century bow making. Dodd’s earliest bows are in the more classical style, with rounded heads, narrow frogs, and straighter sticks, but he gradually created a model that set the standard for English bows: an upward-tilting ivory face, large chamfers, and ebony or tortoiseshell frogs. He also collaborated with virtuoso violinist Wilhelm Cramer to create the concave “Cramer bow” for extended techniques and sensitive playing.