Ernst Heinrich Roth Sterling Silver Violin Bow – Germany circa 1930-1940

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Stamped:

We have an attractive violin bow made in Germany for the Roth firm. Ernst Heinrich Roth (1877-1948) was a prominent figure in violin making the last half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. His instruments and the workshop trade instruments were special, and he even made some fine bows early on in his career. His instruments and bows are highly regarded for their superior sound and quality construction. The firm still, to this day in their fourth generation, produces fine string instruments in Bubenreuth, Germany. From the 1930’s branded Roth bows were supplied to the firm by two different makers- Adolf Schuster and Otto Paulus. These makers supplied unstamped bows to the Roth workshop and the Roth firm graded and stamped them according to their own system. Our bow was made in the 1930’s and I believe it was made by the Otto Paulus firm. The bow has stars which are 5 pointed and the stars have open centers. The bow is also stamped “GERMANY” on the butt which is the flat of the stick behind the frog. Many of these bows were made for export to the West and usually were sold with one of their violins.

The bow is pernambuco, octagonal in section, and sterling silver mounted. The head is strong, and not too small. I replaced the tip facial in bone and removed the old winding and replaced it with a new sterling silver winding and a leather thumb grip. The frog is a classic blind eye ebony frog mounted with sterling fittings and a lightly colored blue mother-of-pearl slide. The endscrew is a sterling silver turned collar and three-piece button that has a single pin in the third segment. The bow shows excellent German workmanship at a high level, and it is in excellent condition.

Weight fully haired 60.1 grams