James Tubbs (1835 – 1921) is one of the most celebrated English

bow maker A bow maker is a person who builds, repairs, and restores ancient or modern bows for bowed string instruments. These include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, viola d'amore, viola da gamba, etc. The French word for bowmaker (bow make ...

s, and is considered "The English Tourte". Together with his son Alfred (d. 1912), he produced more than 5,000 bows. It is generally accepted that James Tubbs ranks among the five or six most important bow makers in history.

Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers The ''Universal Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers'' is a widely cited reference work providing information on approximately 9,000 violin makers. The work is based on the extensive notes of violinist and composer William Henley (1874-1957). Henley ...

- William Henley 1970 "The Tubbs family made bows and instruments as early as the 1800s, and five generations have practiced the craft".

Early life

Born in London in 1835, the eldest of eleven children and son of William, James Tubbs worked for his father until 1860.

Career

Tubbs first started making bows for William Ebsworth Hill around 1860 and continued that relationship until 1870. His bows made for W. E. Hill & Sons are stamped W E Hill and are sometimes double stamped. In the 1870s Tubbs settled on his own opening a shop at 94 Wardour Street. The early bows from this period were branded "J. TUBBS." Around 1878 he changed this brand to "Jas. TUBBS." In 1885 he won a Gold medal for his bows at the Inventions Exhibition held that year in London, after which he was made bowmaker by Special Appointment to

Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1 ...

Legacy

In the widely cited book ''

'', William Henley calls Tubbs "this champion" and places him alongside Tourte, Peccatte and Voirin. String players generally regard his bows as extremely desirable, and will often go to great lengths to obtain one and collectors may pay huge amounts to own one. "Leading musicians of the day such as Piatti and Wilhelmj, were attracted by bows made by James Tubbs and were using them. Since then, his bows have been enjoyed and used by musicians (soloists, chamber musicians and orchestral players) the world over."

Typical characteristics of his work

Head is broad and full, the model being an early work of Francois Tourte. The frog with pearl eyes and long ferrule and one piece long buttons with solid metal (ex: silver ) are also typical of this period. Finest examples have metal fittings of engraved gold.

Auction price

In 1995 a bow by Tubbs was sold at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

auction house for $43,608, a record price for one of his bows.

References

External links

* *Bows and Bowmakers - W.C. Retford 1964 *W.E. Hill & Sons (A Tribute)- Richard Sadler 1996 * * Dictionnaire Universel del Luthiers - Rene Vannes 1951,1972, 1985 (vol.3)
James Tubbs: the turbulent life of the great bow maker and master of the English school
*

- William Henley 1970
Filimonov Fine Violins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tubbs, James 1835 births 1921 deaths Bow makers British luthiers