Francois Xavier TOURTE

He settled at 10, Quai de l'Ecole, and began to make bows; for his first experiments he used the staves of old sugar hogsheads from Brazil, but afterwards always selected fine Pernambuco wood of perfectly straight grain, strong and elastic, without excessive weight. By subjecting this in a state of flexion to a moderate amount of heat for some time, he obtained a permanent and regular bend: to do this without making the exterior brittle is always the great difficulty of bow makers. He was able to definitely settle the correct length and curvature of the stick, the gradual tapering towards the point, and also invented a method of spreading the hairs of the bow and fixing them on the face of the nut by means of a moveable band of metal, fitting on a slide of mother-o'-pearl. In fact, he practically invented the modern bow and has well been called the " Stradivari" of the bow, for his skill has never been equalled. Most of his great work was done after 1775. Viotti, who arrived in Paris in 1782, is said to have suggested many of the improvements that were required from a violinist's point of view. He worked until he was eighty-five, when failing eyesight necessitated a rest. He himself charged 12 louis d'or (about £10) for the bows mounted in gold, and 3 1/2 louis d'or (nearly £3) for those mounted in silver, but they now fetch from £20 each ; for Tourte's bows are always preferred to any others by violinists, and as yet show no signs of wear. Violoncello bows are rarer; at a sale in Paris, Feb. 5, 1887, one was sold to Messrs. Hill and Son for £44. Several of his bows are in the Paris Conservatoire Collection, they are never marked ; only two are known with small engraved labels : " Cet archet a ete fait par Tourte en 1824, age de soixante-dix-sept ans." His bows were so closely imitated by other makers that it is not easy always to distinguish between the original and the copy.