Vickers viola bow

Description

J. E. (Ted) Vickers (1924 – 2013) was an amateur maker of violins, violas and bows from his home in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, UK.  While his work was not the most precise, he priced his instruments and bows very modestly.  Although I knew almost every UK bowmaker alive since 1995, sadly I didn’t meet nor even converse on the telephone with Ted.  However, all our acquaintances who knew him all describe him as one of the least pretentious, most genuinely sincere and charming people they have known.   This bow was bought new by the previous owner (an enthusiastic amateur violinist who also played the viola) from one of the London dealers, and has had very little use for the last 20 years.  It was bequeathed to us in 2012.  For more than 20 years, the button has a split in the gold tubing, which is of very thin gauge.  Rather than organise immediate repair, we have monitored it with a view to arranging repair should the split expand further.