This bow is an exercise in lateral thinking for the violinist in that the bow is from this wonderful maker’s top five percentage as far as quality and performance is concerned but is damaged in two areas. I had no hesitation in buying it when I found it in rural France this summer as from a playing and craftsmanship point of view it is about as good as a soloists bow can be.
Complete with a certificate from Cabinet d’archetiers Paris it is original in all parts and dates from 1855, Maline at this point is at his zenith and aged 33, the apple of J.B. Vuillaume’s eye as he was very keen to have Maline to make for him and gave him a great deal of freedom to make purely in a style he enjoyed.
The head has a clavette repair and about eight centimetres from the frog on the underside of the stick about one hundred years ago a small crack appeared, secured by two small pernambuco pins it is utterly secure and of no concern at all. As an expert in bows with repairs having sold such bows for over thirty years given the stresses put on this stick due to the type of model and pernambuco the stick is totally secure.
