An artist-quality viola bow, 8va. stick.  71 grams.
 
Most violinists already are aware of how German bows are produced.....
 
The ordinary wood gets nickel-silver mounts.
 
The next quality gets sterling silver mounts and the maker's stamp on the frog.
 
The top quality wood gets 14K solid gold and ebony mounts, maker's stamp on the frog.
 
The top-top quality bows are made with the very best wood, all mounts (frog, wrap, plate on the head) are of solid 14K gold, maker's stamp on the frog.
 
Tortoise-shell and ivory mounts are no longer in production, for obvious reasons.
 
That means our viola bow, originally part of a quartet, is the finest of German bows of the past forty years.
 
I bought them new and have never had anybody play them. They are perfect. Perfect.
 
One of a family of Schoenbach violin makers, Walter and his father specialized in bows rather than violins.
 
As I recall, he told me he was born in 1941.  That would make us the same age.
 
Winner of a Bronze Medal at the Kassel Exhibit of 1983, he informed me that was most upset by the honor. “My bows were the best in the contest.  I should have won a gold medal.”
 
And perhaps he was correct.  Mettal did refuse to enter any contests after Kassel.
 
I have a dozen or so, all new, never sold, never out of my collection.
I give them my highest recommendation. Kept in my violin vault for nearly half a century as long-term investments, it’s now time for them to be sold.
 
 
HG