Marco Raposo Pernambuco Nickel Mounted Violin Bow circa 2014

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We have a fine bow made in the Raposo workshop. When Marco visits the shop with his bows we usually spend more time talking theology than bow making. Which is great. One of the reasons I enjoy bows is getting to know different makers from various countries. Marco has a fine workshop in Brazil and used to have a studio in New York City. He is a visionary in the bow world, planting pernambuco for decades in hopes that one day a great grandchild will be able to harvest the wood and make bows from his efforts.

This bow used reclaimed pernambuco. This means that the wood came from old fences, old construction of barns, and railroad ties made from pernambuco wood in Brazil. Most of Marco’s reclaimed wood dates back the early or mid-20th century. The wood was then cut to be dried in certain formations for a few decades before being used in a bow. Marco once stated that after finding and cutting the reclaimed wood he would use the best pieces which came out to be only about 20% of what was discovered. Wow, that is a lot of waste. Yup, Marco is very picky. The wood in this bow is better than choice, it is as good or better than wood for bows I have that are 100 year old bows.

This is a nickel mounted pernambuco bow in round section. The bow is in excellent condition. I have gone over the entire bow and haired the stick, cut a new thumb leather, as well as cleaned and polished the stick and its nickel silver. This bow by Marco is perfect for the up-and-coming player looking for a pernambuco violin bow. When Marco comes to the shop I would go through the bows, selecting each stick by hand, and many times I’d purchase an entire box. Marco would arrive with hundreds of bows for me to look over every year. The stick is orange/brown pernambuco. The ebony frog is a Parisian eye model and mounted in nickel silver. The bow is finished with a three-piece endscrew button. Excellent bow for the money.

Weight fully haired 60.0 grams