Etienne Pajeot Violin Bow, Mirecourt circa 1835

Etienne Pajeot was one of the most daring and innovative makers of the early 19th century – here we have a classic example from the 1830s in excellent condition.

This is a very fine Pajeot from the maker’s best period. In this case we can date it quite precisely to shortly after 1830 – we can see that the famous “racing” head is fully formed by this time, the metal is nickel (a very recent innovation), and yet the bow still has wood to wood mounts.

The stick is of round section mid-brown veined pernambuco, mounts are nickel and ebony. It also has faithful copy mounts by Yannick Le Canu, currently fitted to the bow.

The condition is outstanding – very few signs of wear and no cracks or damagesother than a few nibbles to the top rails of the frog. The lapping and the headplate appear to be original.

Pajeot was a great maker, and his bows are held in high esteem by musicians. In terms of sound and playability this bow is pretty typical – it has a massive tone, warm yet articulate, and the stick works really well. Medium strong, great off the string and with a stable legato.
Like all great early 19th century bows it offers harmonic richness and a full attack, and simply puts out more sound than later bows ever seem to manage.

And alongside all of this there’s the sheer beauty of the thing – very few bows are as good looking as a good Pajeot!