A very early example of the _cremaillere_ bow (fig. 1) occurs on a
carved ivory plate ornamenting the binding of the fine Carolingian MS.
Psalter of Lothair (A.D. 825), for some time known as the Ellis and
White Psalter, but now in the library of Sir Thomas Brooke at Armitage
Bridge House. The carved figure of King David, assigned from its
characteristic pose and the treatment of the drapery to the 11th
century, holds a stringed instrument, a rotta of peculiar shape, which
occurs twice in other Carolingian MSS.[15] of the 9th century, but
copied here without understanding, as though it were a lyre with many
strings. The artist has added a bow with _cremaillere_ attachment,
which is startling if the carving be accurately placed in the 11th
century. The earliest representation of a _cremaillere_ bow, with this
exception, dates from the 15th century, according to Viollet-le-Duc, who
merely states that it was copied from a painting.[16] Fetis (op. cit. p.
117) figures a _cremaillere_ bow which he styles "Bassani, 1680."
Sebastian Virdung draws a bow for a _tromba marina_, with the hair and
stick bound together with waxed cord. The hair appears to be kept more
or less tense by means of a wedge of wood or other material forced in
between stick and hair, the latter bulging slightly at this point like
the string of an archery bow when the arrow is in position; this
contrivance may be due to the fancy of the artist.
The invention of a movable nut propelled by a screw is ascribed to the
elder Tourte (fig. 2); had we not this information on the best authority
(Vuillaume and Fetis), it might be imagined that some of the bows
figured by Mersenne,[17] e.g. the bass viol bow KL (p. 184), and another
KLM (p. 192), had a movable nut and screw; the nut is clearly drawn
astride the stick as in the modern bow. Mersenne explains (p. 178) the
construction of the bow, which consists of three parts: the _bois,
baton_ or _brin_, the _soye_, and the _demi-roue_ or _hausse_. The term
"half-wheel" clearly indicates that the base of the nut was cut round so
as to fit round the stick. In the absence of any allusion to such
ingenious mechanism as that of screw and nut, we must infer that the
drawing is misleading and that the very decided button was only meant
for an ornamental finish to the stick. We are informed further that _la
soye_ was in reality hairs from the horse or some other animal, of which
from 80 to 100 were used for each bow. The up-stroke of the bow was used
on the weak beats, 2, 4, 6, 8, and the down-stroke on the strong beats,
1, 3, 5, 7 (p. 185). The same practice prevailed in England in 1667,
when Christopher Simpson wrote the _Division Viol_. He gives information
concerning the construction of the bow in these words: "the viol-bow for
division should be stiff but not heavy. The length (betwixt the two
places where the hairs are fastened at each end) about seven-and-twenty
inches. The nut should be short, the height of it about a finger's
breadth or a little more" (p. 2).
As soon as Corelli (1653-1713) formulated the principles of the
technique of the violin, marked modifications in the construction of the
bow became noticeable. Tartini, who began during the second decade of
the 18th century to gauge the capabilities of the bow, introduced
further improvements, such as a lighter wood for the stick, a straight
contour, and a shorter head, in order to give better equilibrium. The
Tourtes, father and son, accomplished the rest.
After Francois Tourte, the following makers are the most esteemed:
J.B. Vuillaume, who was directly inspired by Tourte and rendered an
inestimable service to violinists by working out on a scientific basis
the empirical taper of the Tourte stick, which was found in all his
bows to conform to strict ratio;[18] Dominique Peccate, apprenticed to
J.B. Vuillaume; Henry, 1812-1870, who signs his name and "Paris" on
the stick near the nut; Jacques Lefleur, 1760-1832; Francois Lupot,
1774-1837, the first to line the angular cutting of the nut, where it
slides along the stick, with a plate of metal; Simon, born 1808, who
also signs his bows on the stick near the nut; John Dodd of Richmond,
the greatest English bow-maker, who was especially renowned for his
violoncello bows, though his violin bows had the defect of being
rather short.
The violoncello bow is a little shorter than those used for violin and
viola, and the head and nut are deeper.
The principal models of double-bass bows in vogue at the beginning of
the 19th century were the _Dragonetti_, maintaining the arch of the
medieval bows, and the _Bottesini_, shaped and held like the violin
bow; the former was held over-hand with the hair inclining towards the
bridge, and was adopted by the Paris Conservatoire under Habeneck
about 1830; the great artist himself sent over the model from London.
Illustrations of both bows are given by Vidal (_op. cit._ pl. xviii.).
Messrs W.E. Hill & Sons probably possess the finest and most
representative collection of bows in the world. (K. S.)