French Model Sterling Silver Pernambuco Bass Bow circa 1990

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We have a fine French model bass bow with no origin markings on the bow. How can that be you ask. It happens all the time, where the origin lines are blurred. In 1891, the first significant U.S. law that required products to be marked with their country of origin was the Tariff Act, also known as the McKinley Tariff Act. Then the 1930 Tariff Act, which was built on the 1891 law required that every article of foreign origin (or its container) bearing goods imported to the US to be marked with its country of origin. Before 1891, some goods might have had markings indicating their origin, but it was not a consistent, mandatory practice across the board. Many times, these markings go away, labels taken out, stickers peel off. Our bow has no such markings, branded or stickered. Even without this information, it is still a very nice bass bow.

The bow is in excellent condition. I meticulously went over the bow, first cleaning it up and polishing the silver on the frog. Then giving the stick fresh hair. The bow is strong in its make-up and has a good camber. The winding has black silk thread mixed into the silver and it is capped off with a leather thumb grip. The bow is well made and will make a great playing bow for someone’s quiver. It feels light in the hand and a little head heavy which helps in playing, controlling off-the-string articulations. Sterling silver mounted, French model, Parisian eye frog, and a three-piece end button. The bow is priced to sell.

Weight fully haired 132.8 grams