Archetier, or in England-Bowmaker

Written by: Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins

Predecessor to Cramer and Tourte Bows

The English have as old a love for stringed instruments as anyone else in Europe. English musicians have patronized and cultivated some of the finest violin and bow makers the world has seen. We previously looked at Early English Violin Makers. But without bows, these fine stringed instruments would just be plucked!

c.1800 School of Dodd Ivory Mounted Cello Bow 

How does one Handle Handel? British Violins, of Course!

Written by Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins,
 and Kevin Berdine

The W.E.Hill violin shop was by far the greatest violin shop in England, if not in the world, for much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But they did not rise out of a vacuum. There were wonderful makers in England long before the Hills and there remain great shops since the Hills closed shop. The Hills simply took the best of those talents, added their immense knowledge, and brought out a tremendous violin shop.