French cello bow by Pierre Simon, ca. 1855

A rare French cello bow made by Pierre Simon (1808-1881) ca. 1855. Pierre Simon was initially trained in Mirecourt and in 1838 moved to Paris where he joined the workshop of Dominique Peccatte. During 1838-1840 the style of P. Simon work was naturally influenced by Peccatte (also in some details and proportions of work on the button by Jean Pierre Marie Persoit). There are some great bows made during this period that sticks by Dominique Peccatte and frogs and buttons by Pierre Simon. From 1840 until 1844 Pierre Simon joined the workshop of J.B. Vuillaume where he produced a quite large amount of excellent bows. Dominique Peccatte moved back to Mirecort in 1848, leaving his workshop to Pierre Simon who continued to craft bows for Vuillaume and Gand freres. From 1848 until 1851 Simon was in partnership with Joseph Henry, another fabulous bow maker of that period.

This is a wonderful example from a highly interesting period of the maker’s work. The stick is fine pernambuco, round, strong and nicely flexible with an outstanding, vibrant and colorful sound and excellent handling. The frog is ebony with silver mountings. The button is ebony with two silver rings. The length of the stick is 69.1 cm. The weight of the bow is 78 g.