A Fine Violin Bow Stamped F. Vanderveken – Brussels circa 1880-1890 – CURRENTLY OUT ON TRIAL –

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Stamped:

Flavian Vanderveken was born in Brussels, Belgium. He emigrated to the USA around 1880 and was an established professional violinist. He was a graduate of two Royal Conservatories, Brussels and Paris. That is a WOW! He must have been quite a player and understood what fine violins and bows consisted of. He came to America and settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania and then later in the Southern tier of New York State. He was, as I found out in a Scranton newspaper article, a very talented player who made the violin seem almost “human” when he played. He gave many concerts and taught violin lessons to augment his income. He is also credited in helping to found Ithaca Conservatory of Music in Ithaca, New York. The conservatory started in 1892 and remained just a conservatory of music until 1932 when it was renamed Ithaca College. This is one of my schools where I studied music, receiving a Masters in Double Bass in 1994 studying with Professor Henry Neubert. I’m very grateful to Henry and the way he taught and challenged me as a musician. This was so interesting for me to learn that Vanderveken assisted in getting Ithaca Conservatory going.

A SHOUT OUT to any Ithaca grads out there looking for a fantastic silver mounted pernambuco violin bow, this might be a great choice for you!

Vanderveken also established an orchestra in Scranton as well. On the other side of the music world, he became a violin and bow dealer. He imported handmade bows from Brussels, Belgium his home country. He is not credited as a maker but knew quality and imported very nice handmade violins and bows. Flavian Vanderveken is also credited as being the first importer of Eugene Sartory a Paris bows to the USA.

This stick is pernambuco, octagonal section, and mounted in sterling fittings. I gave the bow a new tip facial and new winding in sterling silver woven thread. The thread is sterling silver woven with Chinese silk. It is beautiful to work with and aids in keeping the bow weight down. This is what was originally on the stick but had wads of grimy masking tape to keep what was left of the winding together and the leather was totally gone. It needed to be replaced and restored. I captured the new winding on the frog end with a leather thumb grip. The frog is as beautiful as the stick, small in stature and has single mother-of-pearl eyes. The silver heel of the frog is of one-piece, and the lining has two very small screws attaching it to the ebony. The button is three-piece: silver/ebony/silver with a double turn in the collar. Fine work finished with a pearl dot on the very end. The stick is choice, beautiful tight grain pernambuco well executed in octagonal section. The stick was hand worked all with a small finger block plane. The edges of the octagonal are only lightly rounded before the stick was oiled to bring out the deeper orange/brown color. The color is lustrous, and the strength of the stick is something fine players seek. A firm stick made to exacting standards and all finished into a work of art called a violin bow. The bow would have come to Vanderveken with no name at the usual placed on the player’s side. That would have been added once he received the bow. This is a 130-year-old bow in excellent condition. The bow is ready to be the featured axe for someone’s violin.

Weight fully haired 57.2 grams