Bow making (musical)

The craft of bow making probably developed in England in the 17th century, and during the 17th and 18th centuries, bows appear to have been made by craftsmen of low status.

The design of the bow changed significantly between 1750 and 1800. A wide range of woods were tried, and pernambuco was widely adopted by 1800. Until 1800 English bows of great quality were made, but the continued popularity of the ‘cramer’ style of violin bow for some twenty years after it was superseded in France delayed the evolution of the English bow. It wasn’t until the 1820s that English bow making came back into the mainstream of excellence. Further details can be found in the article ‘The Development of the Bow in Britain’ by Tim Baker and Derek Wilson.

Several families and workshops dominated English bow making – around 1800 it was the Dodd family, by 1830 the Tubbs family had become the predominant force, and the from the 1880s Hills dominated the market.

• Carving and planing wood
• Silversmithing/goldsmithing

• Training issues: Lack of structured training/apprenticeships.
• Training issues: The colleges at West Dean and Newark are for violin making with only a very limited introduction to working on bows. They are a very good introduction for the skills needed for bow making and restoration but further training is needed. There are some short courses on offer and some informal teaching but not enough to improve the situation significantly.
• Training issues: Shortage of opportunities to learn the skills for bow restoration, which is very much needed
• Supply of raw materials: The relatively recent rulings on ivory have created issues with the retailing of old bows if they were made after 1975, for both dealers and auction houses, with ivory declarations having to be made for each individual bow.
• Supply of raw materials: Since 2007 Paubrasilia echinata (pernambuco) has been registered in Appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which has led to strict regulatory measures. A certificate is required from exporters and importers to guarantee that the wood comes from a plantation that respects the principles of sustainable harvesting. In 2022, there was a proposal to change the protected status of pernambuco, to CITES Appendix I. This would have banned trade in pernambuco wood unless it could be proven to have been sourced before 2007, or to have come from ‘artificial propagation’, ie grown in a nursery. This proposal was narrowly defeated, but only by conceding that a system of marking all bows (old and new) could be put in place to prove the legal provenance of the raw materials. This remains under review and it is still possible that pernambuco could be listed under Appendix 1.
• Supply of raw materials: Makers now face the challenge of identifying suitable alternatives to CITES-restricted materials like pernambuco and ivory.

• British Violin Makers Association

There are very limited formal or accredited training opportunities for bow making in the UK.

Short courses

The British Violin Making Association runs short courses at a number of venues including West Dean College, Halsway Manor and Westhope College

You can see a list of BVMA short courses here

Luthiery courses 

The following colleges teach luthiery but not specifically bow making, although this may be included as an element in the courses.

West Dean College

• Foundation Degree Arts (Musical Instruments) 
• BA Crafts Practice (Musical Instruments)
• Master of Fine Arts Craft Practices (Instrument Making)

Newark College, School of Musical Instrument Crafts

• BA (Hons) Musical Instrument Craft (Violin Making and Repair
• (Foundation) Violin Making

The UK bowmaking sector (for violins, violas, cellos, and double basses) is a highly-specialized, and historic craft with a small workforce of roughly 6-20 full time professionals who rely on bowmaking as their main income, plus others working part time or alongside instrument repair. They operate largely as independent makers and microbusinesses. There is a shortage of new makers coming into the sector with no dedicated bow-making skills centre in the UK; trainees enter through master-apprentice routes or general instrument-making and repair courses at institutions like Newark College or West Dean College. 

The overall commercial demand for stringed instrument bows is consistently high, but demand for newly handmade, high-end UK bows faces a complex supply-and-demand mismatch.

While elite musicians constantly seek top-tier bows, a combination of market pressures, strict materials laws, and changing consumer habits has squeezed the independent UK bowmaking sector.

This craft uses products derived from animals – please read our ethical sourcing statement

• The website of the British Violin Makers Association
• Baker, Tim and Wilson, Derek, The Development of the Bow in Britain.
• International Federation of Musicians Bow-making jeopardised at international level , Sept 2022

Our thanks go to our 2025 reviewers:

• Richard Wilson, Bowmaker and Restorer

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