Pierre Simon Violin Bow, Paris circa 1865

This is a very good Pierre Simon violin bow, made around 1865 and carrying the maker’s own brand. It’s a fantastic bow for a player, strong and stable with a brilliant solistic sound.

Pierre Simon represents the absolute mainstream of French bowmaking in the 19th century. An acolyte of the Vuillaume shop, for a brief while partners with Joseph Henry, he brought the sensibility of the Peccatte school into the hands of hundreds if not thousands of musicians. He seems to have worked with neither excessive pride nor excessive humility, equally content to make exquisite decorated tortoiseshell bows for Gand Freres or relatively plain and modest bows without a brand.

This particular bow is very typical, with the famous curve to the rear face of the head which is his trademark. The stick is of round section highly flamed pernambuco in a shade of orange which Simon seems to have favoured. Mounts are silver and ebony.

The condition is very good but not perfect. The stick is excellent, showing very little wear – the frog is equally crisp, but there’s a small repaired crack in the thumb projection and the underslide has been replaced (most likely due to excessive corrosion of the original iron screws).

Soundwise this is one of the best Simons we have come cross – slightly stiffer than some Peccatte school bows, but still supple enough to pull a thick and noble sound.

The stick is nimble and virtuosic, and the tone is at once muscular and brilliant, bristling with high frequency complexity but always gutsy.

Great attack, excellent tracking – staccato, legato, it all works perfectly.

A tremendous bow!