Victor Fétique, fine French violin bow (certificate by J. F. Raffin)

Fine violin bow by Victor Fetique, Paris (1872 - 1933)

Victor François Fétique, an esteemed master in Paris, crafted this mature violin bow that features a memorable quality which is exceptional even amongst the finest representatives of French bow making, an art which is world famous.

Dating back to approximately 1930, theis round stick Victor Fetique violin bow is one of the rare authentic Fétique bows of his later creative period, a time in Victor Fétique’s life which was clouded by illness before this extremely talented and well-trained bow maker died prematurely in 1933. Born to a family of luthiers steeped in the rich traditions of the town of Mirecourt, Victor Fétique completed his training under Charles Claude Husson, Sigisbert Fournier Maline and Émile Miquel before the great Charles Nicolas Bazin added further critical influences with his own inimitable style. After over a decade of working at the widely respected Caressa et Français workshop, in 1913 Victor Fétique opened his own workshop in the 18th arrondissement, a venue that quickly came a well-established address in the Parisian music scene and attracted a very sophisticated clientele. The perfectly executed violin bow presented here illustrates this successful and extremely productive period of his life: it is as if Victor Fétique compiled the best characteristics of his entire oeuvre into this moderately thick round stick of elegant pernambuco. With its good resilience, it easily holds its own even in more intense musical contexts, and its active character opens up an extremely broad spectrum of nuanced techniques, all of which can be exquisitely controlled thanks to the bow’s outstanding balance which we refined and perfected in the course of thoroughly setting it up. A full, deep, rounded sound paired with the perfect balance make this Victor Fetique violin bow so distinctive. A few most minor repairs were made to the ebony of the frog of finest ebony featuring a Parisian eye: these slight fillings have no impact whatsoever on the acoustic quality or the aesthetic of this well-preserved silver-mounted bow. Its rich range of timbre, warm and deep layered sound and its radiance and resonance indubitably confirm the bow’s French provenance, which is also visibly evident in Victor Fétique’s original brand mark and a certificate and appraisal for € 12,000 issued by J F Raffin, the highly esteemed expert in Paris.