Bow maker

Rosin, a hard, sticky substance made from resin (sometimes mixed with wax), is regularly applied to the bow hair to increase friction.

[4]- David Boyden (After his father's death, Tourte, in collaboration with the violin virtuoso G. B. Viotti, made important changes in the form of the bow in the Classical period between 1785 and 1790.

After 1750, some makers began to identify themselves by stamping their names on bows-generally on the stick, sometimes on the frog, occasionally on both (as in some Dodd bows).

His bows, dating from the end of the eighteenth century and the early decades of the nineteenth, had a marked effect upon the timbre of violins and upon performance practice, enabling new forms of expression and articulation to be developed, and in particular, facilitating the increased use of legato.

Some thirty documents recently discovered in French archives provide further fresh insight into this maker's life and work."

Stewart Pollens, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York "Tourte - French family of bowmakers and luthiers.