I am delighted to be able to offer this superb example of this wonderful maker, in my opinion one of the top five from the twentieth century.  Truly dedicated to his craft he would only make from the very best pernambuco and his bows eminate his tremendous strength of character.  Many of the most respected experts now feel that Emile Auguste's bows from his mature period (from 1940 onwards) are superior to Sartory's ouput, I agree with this but am suprised just how few violinists are aware of his work.  It is tempting to believe that the best bow making died out at the turn of the last century (1900s) but when this bow is viewed and played on you realise that every century brings forth a small group of master makers.

 

It is interesting to note that when players criticised his bows Emile would say to them, 'This is the stick, this is the frog, this is the hair, that's the door!' with an appropriate gesture.  Before embarking upon making a bow he would bring down a bow blank with a crash onto his workbench, if the stick survived this only then would he make a bow out of it.   

 

In the early 1940's Yehudi Menuhin became aware of his tremendous bow making capabilities and suggested that he work for a prestigious firm in New York.  He was paid handsomely and during this period made many outstanding bows.  One need only look at his order book to see that his clients included the very best virtuosi of the time.  Together with J J Millant in my view these two makers tower over all others from the last half of the twentieth century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonderful, this stick is a work of great artistry. 

 

 

 

 This stick is in lovely condition with lovely sharp edges to it, the head is pinned but the pins are hidden.