Having sold in excess of fifty Eugene Sartory bows over the last thirty years you begin to have a far greater understanding of this, the greatest maker of the last century, his thought processes as he developed his design. In ways he is not that far away from Joseph Arthur Vigneron, a great maker twenty years his senior and to whom he was related.

Sometimes an early Sartory can be a disappointment, though not that often! They can feel like a curious hybrid of Sartory and Joseph Alfred Lamy pere, neither one nor the other, a cul-de-sac in making terms. This bow however, is not one of those bows, it has a tremendous Sartory presence and personality. really a top drawer Sartory full of all the best qualities you could wish for, complete with a Jean-Francois Raffin certificate it is the ideal partner for a violinist who needs a first class bow for several decades.

The weight is 60.5g and being early it does not have a Parisienne eye but one of those fabulous big boned early frogs, uncomplicated, but highly desirable. The button is from the same period and is french but it may not be original, this is a very cautious decision and it may well be original in that at this time Sartory was both experimenting with fittings and looking at several suppliers including the Morizot Mirecourt connection.

This bow is available February 2023.

£28,000