Joseph Henry (December 10, 1823 in

Mirecourt Mirecourt () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mirecourt is known for lace-making and the manufacture of musical instruments, particularly those of the Violin family. Inhabitants are called Mirecurtiens. G ...

– 1870) became one of the most important bowmakers of the golden era of French bowmaking, working and collaborating with his master and employer

Dominique Peccatte Dominique Peccatte (15 July 1810 – 13 January 1874) was a French luthier and above all a renowned bow maker. He was apprenticed in Mirecourt and later worked with Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume. He is notable for adapting the "hatchet-shaped" typ ...

and business partner

Pierre Simon Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

Henry studied with Peccatte and established his own shop in 1851. His bows are quite rare and sought after. His work can be compared to that of Dominique PECCATTE. Henry was clearly his most talented student. Henry was engaged by Simon c.1848, to work together in partnership (in what were formerly D.Peccatte’s Parisian premises). Although this association is thought to have ended acrimoniously in 1851, these few years were extremely fruitful for this pairing. Their work – both independently and in collaboration – garnered considerable acclaim, on one occasion winning them an Honourable Mention at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851." – Peter Oxley, Oxford Peccatte passed on to Henry and Simon his teachings from Persoit (Persois) regarding the cambering of the bow (the shaping and imprinting of the curve of the bow). This collaboration gave rise to what is considered to be the best wood-bending school in France: Persoit-Peccatte-Henry-Simon. 150-200 years later, it is difficult to find a bow made by any of these great craftsmen that is not still in full working order.

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman ( he, יצחק פרלמן; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world. Perlman has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that hav ...

primarily plays a bow made by Joseph Henry, circa 1851–1870, and also plays the “Soil” Strad, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1714 during his Golden Period. Other prominent violinists using bows by Joseph Henry include soloist Leonidas Kavakos, Benjamin Bowman (MET Opera Concertmaster), and Steve Kecskemethy (Portland String Quartet 1st Violin)

References

Sources

* * * Dictionnaire Universel del Luthiers – Rene Vannes 1951,1972, 1985 (vol.3) *

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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Joseph Bow makers Luthiers from Mirecourt 19th-century French people 1823 births 1870 deaths