A Fine Violin Bow by Otto A Hoyer Pariser- Markneukirchen circa 1915

click picture to enlarge

Stamped:

This is a bow handmade by Albert Otto Hoyer (1889-1966) in his Markneukirchen workshop. Otto A. was one of the best Markneukirchen masters of his guild. The bow is stamped OTTO A HOYER PARISER. The stamp on the bow shows a justified pride he felt as a young maker that he had worked for the great French maker and teacher E. Sartory. Otto came from a famous bow making family in Markneukirchen, Germany. Their roots in bow making go back to Carl Wilhelm Hoyer (1772-1836). Otto A was the first family maker who stamped his bows on a regular basis. He learned his craft from his father Ernst August Hoyer. According to his father Otto worked with E. Sartory in Paris from 1911-1913. Following that tutelage and experience Otto left Paris and set up his own shop in Markneukirchen. He worked there very successfully well into his old age.

We meticulously went over the bow, giving the stick a new sterling winding accent thread and a new leather thumb. The bow has been thoroughly cleaned and the silver polished. The pernambuco wood is choice, with an amber/orange/brown color. The color is transparent, and the grain is tight. The bow is round in section with a camber that occurs gradually beginning about 5.0 cm from the head. The wood is thinner at the head, then broadens halfway down the stick and remains quite consistent throughout the rest of the bow and into the winding area. The head, all knife work, is elegant and graceful in its look. The head and tip as well as the frog and endscrew are all original. Everything is original except for my winding and thumb leather. The ebony frog is slightly rounded from 100 years of playing. The frog lays nicely in the hand as it sits a little lower to the stick, cradled in a track carved out in the stick itself. The frog is Parisian eye model, and the pearl eyes are small, with colorful hues that match the mother-of-pearl slide. The detail in the bow is a wow – from the tapered increments in the pernambuco stick, to the head, the jewelry work in the frog, and the subtleness in the slide which has a slight taper, with the wider end towards the ferrule. The heel is two-pieces and the heel, lining, and button are held in place with fine silver pin work. The three-part button has a longer ebony section and a closed end ring. This is typical classic Otto A. Hoyer work. The pernambuco is firm, the bow is amazing, and it plays well. This is another exquisite German bow close to if not 100 years old. In our collection. The bow is in very good condition and is a historically significant bow made by Otto A. Hoyer.

Weight fully haired 61.5 grams