Emile Auguste Ouchard 1945 Silver and Ivory

I am delighted to be able to offer this superb example of this wonderful maker, in my opinion one of the top five from the twentieth century. Truly dedicated to his craft he would only make from the very best pernambuco and his bows show his tremendous strength of character.

Many of the most respected experts, amongst them notably the late William Salchow, share an opinion that Emile Auguste’s bows from his mature period (from 1940 onwards) are superior to Sartory’s output, I agree with this but am surprised just how few violinists are aware of his work. It is tempting to believe that the best bow making died out at the turn of the last century (1900s) but when this bow is viewed and played on you realise that every century brings forth a small group of master makers. The quality of the wood in this bow is of the highest order as is the choice of design. You get the feeling he is really searching for excellence with this bow.
It is interesting to note that when players criticised his bows Emile would say to them, ‘This is the stick, this is the frog, this is the hair, that’s the door!’ with an appropriate gesture. Before embarking upon making a bow he would bring down a bow blank with a crash onto his workbench, if the stick survived this only then would he make a bow out of it.

Sometimes when approaching a new bow purchase experience has shown me that sometimes the player is not really ready for the very best bow, in that they are inexperienced playing on bows of great stature. This bow towers above most bows and is looking for a new soloist owner!

Emile Auguste Ouchard at the time he made this bow.

In the early 1940′s Yehudi Menuhin became aware of his tremendous bow making capabilities and suggested that he work for a prestigious firm in New York. He was paid handsomely and during this period made many outstanding bows. One need only look at his order book to see that his clients included the very best virtuosi of the time. Together with J J Millant in my view these two makers tower over all others from the last half of the twentieth century.

In my job as a bow dealer over the period of a year you may see several hundred bows, the vast majority are fairly run of the mill and can be discounted immediately. However maybe once or twice a year you may be shown a bow of real importance, this is such a bow. Ouchard produced his best bows from 1940-1960, in my opinion his golden period is around 1945.

Playing Characteristics

Wonderful, this stick is a work of great artistry. Really this is for a top flight soloist, a powerful bow with amazing balance in the hand it is a joy to play – like many great bows it is slightly addictive.

Certificate

This bow has a certificate from Bernard Millant.

Condition

This stick is in lovely condition with lovely sharp edges to it, the head is pinned but the pins are hidden. The tremendously rare frog is in mint condition.

£8,000