François Lotte (1889–1970) was a French

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

and

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

. Son of Georges Lotte who was a

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

and

violin maker A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be u ...

in the Vuillaume shop. François Lotte received his training in the best French tradition, initially apprenticed with

Bazin Bazin may refer to Places *Bazin, Zanjan, a village in Iran * Gazan Bazin, Hormozgan, a village in Iran * Kingdom of Bazin, a medieval Beja polity *Bazin, Hungarian name of Pezinok Pezinok (; in the local dialect ''Pezinek''; ; ; ) is a town in ...

. In 1919 he married Marguerite Ouchard, daughter of

Émile François Ouchard Émile François Ouchard (30 April 1872–27 February 1951) was a bow maker (''archetier'') for stringed instruments from Mirecourt, Vosges, France. Ouchard was also known as "Ouchard Père". Biography Émile François Ouchard began his app ...

and sister of

Émile Auguste Ouchard Émile Auguste Ouchard (24 July 1900–14 February 1969) was a French bow maker of repute and son and pupil of Émile François Ouchard. Honors & awards include the Grand Prix of the 1942 International Paris Exhibition. Biography He was born ...

. François later went on to work for

Eugène Cuniot-Hury Eugène Cuniot-Hury (1861–1910) was a French archetier and bow maker based in Mirecourt, France. Eugène Cuniot-Hury was son of Pierre Cuniot who was also an archetier / bow maker. Eugène Cuniot-Hury apprenticed with his father and became the ...

(between 1922-1925). By 1926 he set up his own business in Paris. His bows are often stamped with the stamp of the shop or maker he was working for or not stamped at all. His bows are elegant, precise, excellent in workmanship and combine good playing and sound qualities. He left a large number of bows of very good quality. Many bows are mounted in silver as well as maillechort/

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

mounted. His brands include: *"FRANCOIS LOTTE" in large letters *"Fcois LOTTE" in large letters *"FRANCOIS LOTTE" in small letters His son Roger François Lotte, born 1922, took over the shop around 1960. François the father continued to make bows until his sudden death in 1970.

Notes

References

* * * * Dictionnaire Universel des Luthiers -

René Vannes René Vannes (24 May 1888 in Lille, France – 19 November 1956 in Brussels) was a Belgian musicologist and author of a standard history of lutenists, which is also used as a standard reference work on violin bow makes and archetier A bow maker ...

1951,1972, 1985 (vol.3) 1889 births 1970 deaths Luthiers from Mirecourt Bow makers {{France-archery-bio-stub