Boldon Auction Galleries

A Cello bow, stamped E.Sartory a` Paris – Sold in our Antique and Interiors sale for £6500

Originating from Mirecourt France, Eugène Nicolas Sartory (1871) became known as an influential French archetier/ bow maker.  Sartory first learned his trade as an apprentice to his father and then went on to work with Paccatte and Lamy Père, before setting up his own shop on the Boulevard Nouvelle in 1893.

Sartory’s bows are marked "E.SARTORY A PARIS".  It is said that bows made by the French archetier have been among those most sought after in instrument building for over 100 years.  His perfectly balanced pieces have become classical examples of the standard of bow that follows the tradition of François Xavier Tourte.  Sartory perfected his own model and throughout his lifetime produced amazing standard high quality pieces.  Working mostly with dark Pernambuco in the earlier period and becoming increasingly lighter into the later years; but always giving his bows luxurious details, with ebony, silver and gold fittings as well as tortoiseshell thumb leather and lizard skin.