C. Chagas – Brasil Ipe Nickel Mounted Cello Bow

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Stamped:

Claudio Roberto Carlesso Chagas was born in the city of Joao Neiva, Brazil in 1973. He began his journey in making bows at 20 years old by first roughing out sticks for other bowmakers and in 1997 he graduated to making his own bows. I am told that you will not find a dull knife or plane on his bench. I like that. I spend time sharpening and tuning up my tools, but I can’t say for sure everything is perfect. Both tools, knives and planes, need to be razor sharp, perfect edges for making fine bows. Claudio is a maker in the firm of Arcos Brasil. He has two other young brothers who also make bows for us here at the shop. He is known by Mr. Judd for his knife work and incrementations by the centimeter on his bows. The maker just knows and feels how to make the stick tapered and sleek behind the head. The maker progresses to the gauge (width diameter of the egg shape) he wants for each stick. Bow making is an art, and the maker can sense what the wood will handle for each bow. Ipe wood grows and is harvested in Brazil. Ipe and pernambuco have always come from the country of Brazil. The ebony used in making the frog only grows in Africa and certain parts of India. Chagas is a skilled maker and takes his time in creating great sticks for us here at the shop. All hand work. Claudio’s bows are stamped “C. CHAGAS – BRASIL.”

This stick is firm and round in section. The wood name, ipe, is stamped on the butt of the bow so there is no confusion with the other wood used in making bows- pernambuco. The wood is brown color with a hint of deep orange. The finish is only oiled and shows good clarity. The last 24.0 cm of the bow is octagonal section for the bow to accept the frog. The bow is mounted in nickel silver, and the fittings are held in place with pin work. The frog is a Parisian eye model with a pearl slide. The pearl slide has some dark veins that run across the pearl and interesting brown dot in the pearl the size of a pin head in the shape of a football. Unique for a mother-of-pearl slide. The winding is nickel with a leather thumb grip to capture the nickel silver at the frog end. The bow is in excellent new condition. The ebony frog is pitch black with no sign of mineral streaks. It is completed with a three-piece end button with a pearl end. A modern bow, true, but everything old that was great had to start new. We have plenty of older bows. They were excellent new bows at one time. This is a fantastic stick, from a maker I know, mounted in nickel silver and ready to produce amazing sound off an instrument.

The weight of the bow is 81.7 grams