Violin Bow by Emile Auguste Ouchard circa. 1930

Emile Auguste Ouchard is one of the most important makers of the twentieth century, a precocious talent he was a tremendously gifted maker.

He soon garnered a notebook for of orders from the most important players of the day. He was keen to use the best possible pernambuco and took his ingenious model to its furthest point to produce exceptional bows.

At his best he is nearly unbeatable, when confronted by one of his best bows the feeling is nearly unanimously ‘I love this bow!’.

He was always in demand and spent several years in the U.S.A. working for William Lewis and Son, Chicago (Established 1874 has since become a division of Conn-Selmer, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments.). However, every September he would travel to Paris to sell some of his bows to colleagues in the making profession for them to sell on under their banner.

Left is a photo of Emile Auguste as a young drummer, perhaps at this age he would glance over at his father, by this time occasionally wearing three pairs of spectacles at once (!) and think to himself ‘I think I can make a bit better than my father!

This bow was bought in such a way by the Laberte firm, founded in 1780 it was well known in Paris to all in the dealing world and run by Marc Laberte at this time.

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An interesting day at the office

Here at Peter Hembrough Bows no two days are the same. Each day brings a different challenge. This week I was asked to find a quality Viola for an outstanding young soloist, budget £100,000. On the face of it this sounds straightforward, with a fine budget you would think the world is your oyster. This however, is proving not to be the case!

Once given this customers wishes I immediately contacted my friends in U.K. France, Italy, Switzerland and the USA. It immediately became clear that fine quality Violas are not as easy as you would imagine.
You can certainly find fine instruments, made by the best makers, but there is often an Achilles heal and it pays to do your due diligence.

Perhaps this is why you should enlist the help of a dealer, to look into the fine detail. For instance we all got excited when a fine French Viola turned up, only to find the belly had been thinned about a century ago, thus ruining the tone and carrying power. So much for ‘improving’ an instrument by thinning the plates! It would have been easy for the musician to think if they play the viola a great deal it shall ‘wake up’ sound wise, but sadly this instrument had been damaged structurally. This situation is ongoing and I hope to give a happy end to this story in June.

Talking of Violas, it reminds me of a true but funny story........
Several years ago a man walked into a string dealers shop with a viola case, he put the case on the counter and told the shop owner he had a viola he wished to sell. Upon opening the case the shop owner was astonished to be confronted by the most beautiful Brescian 17th century viola he had ever seen! He did a quick mental sum and felt he could put together £9,000 in cash that day. He said ‘I think I can give you nine’ at this point the owner of the Viola piped up ‘hundred! I was hoping for a thousand!’ The dealer said ‘ok’ This is a true story, and it was indeed, one of the most beautiful violas I have ever seen!

Dear Customer

Dear customer,

We are looking forward to seeing you in our North London (N9 9EX) workshop with a superb selection of beautiful bows. Bows from £150 - £52,000. We look forward to seeing you and discussing your needs. Rehairs and bow restoration also taken in at this workshop, please email to make an appointment.

Tortoiseshell restoration

It is no longer possible to use Tortoiseshell in bow making. This is a correct and necessary action to protect the Hawksbill sea turtle in particular. However using old stock of tortoiseshell up in restoration is totally acceptable and ecologically sound.

Below are some small parts of Tortoiseshell that are available for highly skilled restoration. So if you have a treasured bow with a tortoiseshell frog that needs restoration here is a very rare opportunity to have it looking as good as new whilst being ecologically friendly.

Bernard Millant 13th may 1927 - 5th April 2017

This month we pause to think about the late great Bernard Millant, a remarkably kind man who was always a delight to spend time with. It frankly amazes me that this man found time to discuss the finer points of the great makers with me.

Bernard Millant 1927-2017

I always knew my time with him was important, I used to savour the tranquility and his unhurried ways as he explained details he could see in a bow I had taken to him. Like many dealers around the world I owe him a great deal, and miss his company dreadfully.

Thank you for your time and help Bernard, it was appreciated.

Dominique Peccatte bow arrives from France

You’re never bored of a Peccatte

The day you get bored of a Violin bow by Dominique Peccatte arriving is the day you should pull down the shutters and go into another business!

Very few dealers in the world are fortunate enough to be able to offer these tremendous bows to their customers. All his bows have their own distinctive personalities, always fabulous to play, if a passage you’re playing isn’t working it will not be the bows fault!
They are especially helpful in stressful playing situations, big solos in front of a large audience or in recording sessions. For many first rate soloist a Dominique Peccatte is their first choice to use, even if they have a collection.

Can you hear the difference?

A few years ago I was playing in an orchestra accompanying Sarah Chang playing the Brahms concerto. Her sound was not as strong nor as clear after the rehearsal break, this perplexed me. After the rehearsal I asked her if she had changed anything, she said the first half of the rehearsal was played on her Peccatte, after the break her Pajeot, the difference amazed me.

Henryk Szeryng for instance owned many bows, he sometimes even gave them away to deserving people, a very kind gesture! After his death his wife said for the last six years of his life he only used his Peccatte. Similarly if you look carefully at videos or photographs of Christian Ferras or Ivry Gitlis you can plainly see them holding their Peccatte bows, Ferras’ Peccatte, a rare octagonal, is especially beautiful.

The Peccatte arriving this week is from around 1845, at this point Peccatte has just returned to Mirecourt to set up his workshop having left Paris. Bows from this period are his most sought after as he reaches his apogee. As soon as it arrives you shall see a full description.

Emmanuel Carlier

We are delighted to announce an ongoing commitment to stock the sensational bows by one of the leading Parisienne makers, Emmanuel Carlier.

A small number of his bows shall be here in the U.K. by late March 2021. They are keenly sought after so don’t hold back if you have an interest.

His bows have won many competitions and in 2019 awarded the prestigious “Meilleur Ouvriers de France” an honour bestowed only on the very best in their specific field.

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What does Peter Hembrough bows do?

Perhaps this short clip of music sums up why my business exists. Beautifully played, it is a real pleasure to see a recently purchased violin bow in action. This Francois Nicolas Voirin bow had sat neglected in need of some restoration in a Swiss collection for about forty years.

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A glorious example of a Vuillaume style frog

Now, after restoration in our Spanish workshop, it is once more performing to its best of potential thanks to our chief restorer. Indeed restoration is by no means straightforward and we are fortunate indeed to have some world class staff on hand to bring back Into use these stunningly beautiful bows. They look wonderful post restoration, but to see and hear them in action is a really thrilling experience.

A recently purchased Francois Nicolas Voirin bow from Peter Hembrough Bows beautifully played

Always delightful to find a sleeper

But what is a “sleeper”?

In the auction world it means something very rare that the auction house has not noticed. It is always a delight to find one, then you wonder if any of your friends noticed! Take a careful look at this dreadful photo from an obscure small auction house in rural southern France.

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Immediately I knew this maker, so distinct is the tongue and thumb projection, indeed it can be only one maker. Now take a look at the photo below of a frog by the same maker but from a reference book.

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There you have it! Any guesses?

Ok, I’ll put you out of your misery, it is none other than Jacob Eury, circa 1820. A mythical and extraordinary maker of the highest calibre. It is in restoration and shall be available in mid November. The great news is that it has slight damage so the price shall be manageable. Keep watching the website as a further twelve bows are going to be announced in the run in to Christmas in an effort to cheer us all up in these tough times.

Our display and test hall

Here is a photo of our converted church/concert hall close to Bath, England, showing our beautifully presented collection of instruments ranging in value from £1,000 to £1,000,000,

Here instruments can be browsed and, if helpful you can try them.