François Lotte: French violin bow, circa 1945 (certificate by J.-F. Raffin)

François Lotte was a renowned French bow maker who worked in Mirecourt and lived from 1889 to 1970. This violin bow by François Lotte with Raffin certificate is a perfectly balanced piece of work, created in the mid-20th century and one of the masterpieces of this renowned Mirecourt bow maker. During this period, François Lotte began working with his son, Roger François Lotte, who would take over the workshop entirely around 1960. The distribution of strength in the strong, round stick made of good pernambuco wood is typical of this phase of the father's career, whose individual style is characterized by the characterful workmanship of the frog and head. This French Lotte violin bow not only reflects the decades of experience and exquisite craftsmanship of the master, who took his first steps as an employee at Bazin, where he probably also completed his training; it is also an interesting milestone in the development of the model that was to become decisive for the family workshop in the period after the Second World War, and with which François Lotte continued to work beyond his retirement until his death in 1970. Equipped with high-quality nickel silver fittings and an ebony frog with a Parisian eye, this typical Francois Lotte bow impresses with the elegance of its shape, but even more so with its outstanding playing characteristics, which offer all the advantages for which French violin bows are appreciated worldwide: Easy to handle thanks to its central center of gravity, the 55g Francois Lotte violin bow produces a brilliant sound whose voluminous yet warm character supports the individual characteristics of excellent violins and allows their profile to unfold to its fullest. A certificate is included in the price. Free shipping, with a 30-day return policy.

As with (almost) all our instruments and bows, the purchase price can be offset against the purchase of a higher-quality violin bow thanks to our trade-in guarantee