1950s John Bolander 4/4 Violin bow





This Bolander bow is probably from the '50s as that's from around when the fiddle it was in use with seems to have been getting most of its play. John Bolander was basically "the first" well-known American bowmaker and he built bows right into the '70s. Mr. J. Henry has a writeup on a period bow by the maker with similar details at his site. That writeup shows a bow with a 1004 serial number while this bow has a 452 number stamped under the grip (and which I simply couldn't photograph easily). Another bow from a reputable site states number 748 as a '50s make, so this one is likely from the '50s as well.

Per the maker's usual specs, it has a "California mountain mahogany" frog, pernambuco stick, silver wrap, and nickel-silver fittings. It's in good shape but it does have...

Condition issues: bow tensions just-fine and plays nicely but has mild twist at its tip when under tension. There's mild usewear/rosin darkening to the middle of the stick above the hair and it could probably use a rehair for professional/concert use. For the average fiddler, the hair may not be an issue.

Specs: it's 29 3/8" overall in length and weighs 60 grams.

For more reference material, check out this link and this other link.










Comments

Brenda Scott said…
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Unknown said…
Thank you for the use of the photographs in our article! Here is the link as promised: https://cellomuseum.org/the-bow-part-six-bow-making-in-the-americas/