intro

[Geo Kloppel <GeoK@aol.com>]

           Since the list is rather sleepy and lurkers are invited to step
forward, I will introduce myself. I'm George Kloppel, a maker and restorer
of bows for instruments of the violin family. I've been at this for about
eighteen years in Ithaca, New York, most recently with the firm of Reuning
& Son Violins. 

           I have been privileged to work on numerous examples of classic
French and English bowmaking, often very much the worse for the wear they
have received in the hands of generations of musicians. Few "instruments"
are more fragile, or more easily damaged beyond any redemption, than bows.
In recent years the value of antique French work has shot up explosively,
 spurred by competing pressure from speculators, collectors and desperate
musicians all chasing the dwindling supply. One of the consequences is that
bows which deserve to be "retired" are subjected to drastic or inept
"restorations" very detrimental to their originality. Hybrids and patch-jobs
reminiscent of Dr. Frankenstein turn up with distressing frequency. I
ruefully recognize that this is just the way things work: if originality were
being scrupulously preserved, the development of rarity and preciousness
would be slowed, and consequently the preservation-ethic would diminish!
Apparently marketplace attrition rules.
       
            Which brings me to the point of my presence on MICAT-L.  I am
uncomfortably astride the fence between conservation of originality and
preservation of utility. I'm called upon to advise my clients re:
feasibility _and_ advisability of restoration, but when I feel that bows
deserve to be retired from full-time use, I have little in the way of
practical suggestions to offer musicians who would like to see them
preserved but need to roll over their investment into something they can
actually _use_.  Dealer trade-in and auction are the usual recourses.
These frequently lead to further degradation. Any discussion that
developes on this list regarding management of this dilemma in the realm
of antique musical instruments will be of interest to me. 

              My principal contacts are dealers and musicians, and I want
to flesh-out my perspective by listening to what collectors and
conservators have to say about the seemingly random marketplace selection
process at work here. 

              Geo Kloppel             <geok@aol.com>