Willy (Wilhelm) Eichler Violin Bow – Erlbach, Germany circa 1925-1928 – CURRENTLY OUT ON TRIAL –

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Stamped:

Willy Eichler (1887-1964) was a German bow maker from Erlbach, Germany which is located near the Austrian border. He made bows up until 1928 with a stamp/brand on his bows WEE (Willy Eichler, Erlbach) and he made bows that were delivered unstamped to other violin shops like the Richard Weichold workshop in Dresden, Germany. Willy made bows in many different models and in 1928 he moved to Kassel, a city in central Germany northeast of Frankfurt, to manage a music store. He continued to make bows, especially when his son joined him after World War II. This is a pernambuco violin bow, well made, octagonal section, and sterling silver mounted. The bow is stamped on the player’s side WILLY EICHLER and on the audience side inverted PEATES, UTICA, N.Y. The bow was imported at one time to Peates, a music store in Utica, NY. Peates Music House produced a catalog of violins, violas, cellos, and basses in 1929. The company imported bowed strings instruments and accessories from Germany.

I have completely gone over the bow replacing the original silver tinsel winding and leather with new silver tinsel and a fresh leather lapping and thumb grip. The frog is light in the hand and slightly smaller in stature. The frog is handmade as well and has single mother-of-pearl eyes and a luminous mother-of-pearl slide. The slide is thinner at the heel and widens as it gets to the ferrule. I only see this workmanship on handmade frog work. The heel has fine pin work to attach to the frog while the lining is attached to the frog with tiny bronze screws. The head and ivory tip are original and the pernambuco wood has a beautiful orange/brown color. The bow is laid out well as an engineering study where I notice a couple of thousandths of an inch girth incrementation every two centimeters in octagonal section. Octagonal or flats in wood or anything created helps make that object stronger, firmer. The incrementation begins just after the head and continues until the winding. The stick has good fight, strength, and has no excess girth. This is a fine bow made at a high level of workmanship and easily close to one-hundred years old. It is a professional level bow, well thought out, and ready for the next player.

Weight fully haired 61.4 grams