Musicians make note to take a bow

3:49pm Friday 21st November 2008

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Bows made by some of the world’s finest bow-makers were featured in a special exhibition at a shop in North Oxford.

Oxford Violins in Banbury Road hosted the exhibition on Wednesday with a total of 70 violin, viola and cello bows made by 35 bow-makers on display. The event was called Take a Bow and was a showcase for bow-making, including bows made in Hungary, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

Peter Yakoushkin, who runs the shop with Bruno Guastalla (pictured above), said bows on display ranged in price from £1,500 to about £4,000.

He added: “Some of the bows are mounted in gold and silver and other special materials, and it is not necessarily professional musicians who buy them.

“A woman cello player who came to the exhibition ended up buying a gold and ebony mounted bow costing £3,800. She was an amateur musician but she enjoys playing the cello and a good bow can make your instrument sound better.

“It’s a specialist market and we also sell some very expensive antique bows.” Picture: David Fleming