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Old 08-17-2009, 07:55 AM
Shannon Eubanks Shannon Eubanks is offline
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Question Violin bow...a Pecatte????

Hello everyone! This is my first post and I'm very excited to have found this site, there's just so much crap online these days. I'm hoping someone might be able to help me out. I know a fair amount about violins and copies but I don't know a lot about bows. I recently picked up a beautiful bow that belonged to an officer of WWII. He was a member of the "Fighting Skulls" and flew 95 missions, and made it back from all of those missions! Somewhere along the way he picked up several violins and bows. One was by Aug. Franz Artisto and another (the one I bought) is labeled "Pecatte." I've attempted to research this online...there's so much and most of it not pertaining to what I'm looking for. Does anyone know a good place to find pictures and info about bows made by this family? I'm not sure if it's real or a copy. Either way, it's a fine specimen. It is labeled "Pecatte" on one side and "Germany" on the other. It's a medium chestnut color with dark, vertical stripes running the entire length of the bow. It's almost zebra like, very beautiful! The frog appears to be ivory (as well and the end piece) with a curl on one corner. I've been unable to find anything that looks even remotely similar. I have some snap shots if anyone would like to see it. I'm getting ready to restring it...can't wait to try it out! Thanks for the help - Shannon
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:56 AM
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Oren Hudson Oren Hudson is offline
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First - welcome to the forum Shannon.
Second - you've chosen the wrong thread area for your questions. Look down a little further under the categories and there are a couple of others that are better suited, particularly the Bows. The Bull Pit is one of those full of crap areas something like you alluded to. BTW - interesting story on the bow.
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Old 08-17-2009, 08:56 AM
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Tim Bishop Tim Bishop is offline
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Cool Bow.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by ShannonKay View Post
Hello everyone! This is my first post and I'm very excited to have found this site, there's just so much crap online these days. I'm hoping someone might be able to help me out. I know a fair amount about violins and copies but I don't know a lot about bows. I recently picked up a beautiful bow that belonged to an officer of WWII. He was a member of the "Fighting Skulls" and flew 95 missions, and made it back from all of those missions! Somewhere along the way he picked up several violins and bows. One was by Aug. Franz Artisto and another (the one I bought) is labeled "Pecatte." I've attempted to research this online...there's so much and most of it not pertaining to what I'm looking for. Does anyone know a good place to find pictures and info about bows made by this family? I'm not sure if it's real or a copy. Either way, it's a fine specimen. It is labeled "Pecatte" on one side and "Germany" on the other. It's a medium chestnut color with dark, vertical stripes running the entire length of the bow. It's almost zebra like, very beautiful! The frog appears to be ivory (as well and the end piece) with a curl on one corner. I've been unable to find anything that looks even remotely similar. I have some snap shots if anyone would like to see it. I'm getting ready to restring it...can't wait to try it out! Thanks for the help - Shannon
Hi Shannon, posting pics of it would be nice, and helpful. Just upload them here on this thread.
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Old 08-17-2009, 09:00 AM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Cool "Pecatte" on one side and "Germany" on the other

Spelled out for you. Just Pecatte and not D. or Dominique Picatte, right? Germany? ok... This is easy..
COPY COPY.. OBVIOUS COPY...

Don't bother with books, appraisals or pictures..

Read this;
Peccatte, Dominique ( 1810 - 1874 ) Apprenticed to a violin maker in Mirecourt, he soon worked in the workshop of J.B.Vuillaume, from 1826 - 1837. Here he studied with Persois, and also met Tourte. Like Voirin his early bows were sometimes stamped with the name of Vuillaume. By 1837 he had taken over the workshop of Lupot. He returned to Mirecourt in 1847. He seldom used a stamp mark, making his bows hard to distinguish. His bows are considered second only to those of Tourte. His brother, François ( 1820 - 1855 ) was also a good bow maker who worked in Mirecourt. Dominique Peccatte, (who is presumed to have learned his craft with Persoit, and apparently worked in the Lupot atelier as well, before a stint in the Vuillaume workshop) continued the trend with a bow patterned after Tourte’s strongest, heaviest model. The Peccatte concept for a bow was generally heavier than anything before him in France, and his output was vast and consistent. If not as flexible as earlier bows, Peccatte bows are still normally fairly flexible; the increase in weight from earlier concepts makes Peccatte bows well suited to the production of the volume of sound and degree of articulation appropriate to large, modern concert halls. The Peccatte bow is one (but not the only) ideal compromise in terms of tone production and handling. Although it neither produces the beauty of tone of a Tourte, nor handles with the nimbleness of a Nicolas Kittel, a fine Peccatte does everything it must do very well, and with a thick rich sonority. Peccatte heads are typically hatchet or square shaped. The chamfer thickness of a Peccatte is usually at its widest in the middle of the bow head. The knife or file mark chatter or judder on the chamfer should be clearly seen as leaving a rather constant pattern, quite equidistant from one to the next, and at a certain angle to the verticality of the chamfer.
Peccatte Charles, Son of Francois. Born at Mirecourt, 1850. Worked for Vuillaume, Voirin and Lenoble before opening own establishment at Paris, 1908. After the death of his Mother, Charles, freed from his ties with Lenoble, moved into his new home and workshop on the Rue de Valois. Here he moved into a more contemporary style of bow making also using different brand stamp. His meritorious bows have received consistent acknowledgment from soloists." (Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers). The chamfer on a Charles Peccatte tends to go a little higher into the throat (or the stick itself) on the audience side of the bow.


From this link here..


Zillions of these 'wannabes' have been made using various famous French and German names as well a sa few English copies of Hill Bows. The absence of the first name or initial stamped on the Bow is the first RED FLAG on this. The word 'GERMANY' stamped on the end in English is a 'Ball of Fire' message to me. Pecatte was from France and on some bows a Paris' might be stamped after the name. For example, one Bass bow I owned years ago was E. Sartory a Paris' if I recall the exact stamp correctly. Famous name master French Bows bring big money today. What was hundreds or thousands back then is 10s of thousands now. I have seen bows for sale ranging from 20-100k recently. The bigger or rarer the name of a famous maker, the higher the price. I held a 100k Cello bow a few years ago. Chills went down my spine. I saw recently a Pecatte bow made for a 19th century Exhibition. It was an oversized Bow made just to show the work detail as it was too big to hold and play normally.
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Old 08-17-2009, 09:31 AM
Shannon Eubanks Shannon Eubanks is offline
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Default Ahhh....

Thanks for the help! I figured it was a copy but wasn't sure how to tell when it comes to a bow. Wow, a 100K?! That must have been an experience. I think I would have wet my pants if I ever had the chance to touch one worth that much. Thanks again for everyone's input.
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