French family of bowmakers and luthiers. It comprised Nicolas Pierre Tourte and his sons Nicolas Léonard and François Xavier and perhaps Charles Tourte, son of Nicolas Léonard. In addition, at least two channelled (canalé) bows dating from about 1750–60 exist bearing the brand-stamp A.TOURTE.
(1) Nicolas Pierre Tourte [père]
(2) (Nicolas) Léonard Tourte [l'aîné]
(3) François Xavier Tourte [le jeune]
PAUL CHILDS
(d Paris, 1764). Described in legal documents as a luthier, he was probably the maker of a known violin bearing the label ‘Pierre Tourte, Paris 1747’. Oral tradition holds that Tourte père was a bowmaker whose shop was the training-ground for his sons.
(b Paris, 20 Jan 1746; d Paris, 11 Sept 1817 or 11 Sept 1807). Bowmaker, son of (1) Nicolas Pierre Tourte. He perhaps deserves at least equal credit with his illustrious younger brother for the development of the modern bow. From about 1770 he made Cramer-type bows (and perhaps others as well). Among the ‘Cramer’ bows a few are known which, in addition to his brand-stamp of TOURTE·L, bear the second brand-stamp AUX 15 VINGT, indicating that he had a dépendance (including a work space) at that institution, a hospice for the blind and those with seeing disorders. His privileges there had probably ended by 1780, and from around that time he produced bows in various styles and from different types of wood. Some of these were almost certainly intended for string instruments other than those of the standard orchestral string family.
A church parish document from 1803 (another dates from 1821, after his death) describes Léonard as an ‘artiste’, the term perhaps indicating that he was active as a musician. Bows with his brand-stamp also emanate from this time and perhaps for some few years afterwards. Throughout his career his bows have round sticks, and their frogs are usually ‘open-trenched’, less so in the later works. Collaboration with another maker or makers is suggested by certain features in the making of some bows, most markedly in the frogs of the later bows. Léonard Tourte used pernambuco wood of excellent quality in many of his Cramer-type bows and in some late bows. Otherwise he availed himself, perhaps experimentally, of various species of hardwood, for the frogs as well as for the sticks. He seems to have begun using ebony for frogs only in his later work.
(b Paris, 1747 or 1748; d Paris, 25 April 1835). Bowmaker, son of (1) Nicolas Pierre Tourte. He has often been called the Stradivari of the bow. Fétis stated that he was apprenticed at watchmaking for eight years before entering fully-fledged into bowmaking. This is supported by the lack of bows that can be positively attributed to him during the time (c1770–80) when his brother Léonard produced ‘Cramer’ (and perhaps other) bows. On the other hand, an argument can be made for his participation in the creation of some of these bows, specifically the extremely well-made ones. Although François Tourte did not normally brand his bows, a few from the early 1800s bearing the brand-stamp TOURTE have in recent years been attributed to him. This brand-stamp is identical with that of his brother (minus the ‘·L’), and it is reasonable to conclude that the initial had been simply filed away. The existence of a cello bow bearing the TOURTE·L and known to be a mature work (c1815) of François' strongly suggests a partnership or collaboration of the two brothers during Léonard's last years.
That François Xavier Tourte was well established as the pre-eminent bowmaker by the early 1800s is born out by L'Abbé Sibire, who wrote in La chélonomie, ou Le parfait luthier (1806) that ‘the famous Tourte (le jeune)’ had begun perfecting the bow 20 years earlier. Although Sibire's writings occasionally border on the fantastic, the notion that François' development as a bowmaker was independent of Léonard's and other bowmakers from an early stage cannot be dismissed entirely.
Attempts have been made in the past to assign Tourte's work to one of three or, more recently, two chronological periods. Both of these proposed divisions, however, fail to take account of his earliest work, which has still not been clearly defined. The first of the two periods covers the ‘transitional’ and the early ‘modern’ bows, whereas the ensuing 25–30 years encompass a prodigiously rich and varied output which in artistry and invention dwarfed Tourte's contemporaries and the bowmakers who followed him.
The transitional and early modern bows have round sticks of pernambuco, often of the finest quality, this latter usually of a dark chocolate brown colour. They are in general slightly shorter than those that are termed Tourte's mature work. Their heads are rather gentle in contour and fairly rounded (when viewed in profile), but many possess the tension and statuesque qualities so evident in his mature and late work. Violin-bow heads of this early work usually have silver head-plates. The frogs are rather long, often short in height, with a narrow ferrule and full-length pearl slides; most have plain sides. The rare open-trenched frog is mated with an ivory button, but otherwise the buttons are of silver on ivory, and the earliest buttons of the three-piece form are also found.
Probably about 1800 Tourte began making octagonal sticks as well as round ones. The former would come to dominate his production. The facets of these sticks were often left off the plane, and some resultant chatter is seen. The length of violin bowsticks was settled, for the most part, at about 72·5 cm (excluding the button); variants tend to be longer, up to about 73·1 cm. The heads are somewhat bolder and more angular, anticipating the great ‘hatchet’ heads which would soon follow. There is little evidence, however, of a constant evolution of the models of the heads, Tourte creating as his inspiration took him. The heads also begin to exhibit the individual working mannerisms that connoisseurs look for to establish authenticity. These include the ‘travelling’, almost meandering, ridge down the head's front; the angular disruptions to the curve of the back of the head (when seen in profile); and the remarkably individual chamfers, which are usually quite exposed. The violin-bow heads now have ivory head-plates as a rule, but the cello bows are found more often than not with silver head-plates. The latter are mostly octagonal and the most common model of head is the ‘hatchet’ with a distinctly inclined front. Other cello bows have heads akin to violin bow models and, very rarely, ‘swan heads’.
The frogs of the violin bows made after the transitional and early modern bows are not as long and, as well, are taller and commonly have a mother-of-pearl eye in each side. The dimensional changes reflect Tourte's continuing quest to refine the playing characteristics of his bows. At the same time there is a satisfying stylistic congruency both in the elements of the frogs and in the frogs' relationship to the head. The mountings now have heel-plates as well as ferrules, and most of the small heel-plates (adjacent to the pearl slide) have three pins. The frogs of the cello bows are usually rather tall, with rounded heels and sometimes, rounded ferrules. An occasional cello frog will feature the ‘Parisian eye’ (a smaller mother-of-pearl eye encircled by a silver ring) and these are certainly some of the earliest bows fashioned with this detail.
Buttons are always in three-piece form, normally with two pins in each ring, with those from the earliest part of this so-called second period diverging strongly one from another in their silver-ebony-silver proportions. The silver parts of the frog and button are of thicker gauge than was used by Tourte's successors and in most of the work of his contemporaries.
Viola bows, rarely encountered, are similar to violin bows in models and lengths of sticks, and their frogs have square heels.
At some point during his mature years of bowmaking, Tourte began to make the occasional frog of tortoiseshell and gold. The buttons complementing these frogs have mother-of-pearl facets between the gold rings. The precision of this work is held in high esteem by today's makers.
Tourte's only known working address was 10 quai de l'Ecole, where he remained until his move in 1833 to 38 rue Dauphine. In all likelihood the change of address marked his retirement from bowmaking, as he was listed in the professional register, Bottin's Almanach du commerce de Paris up to 1833. Oral tradition holds that in 1824 Tourte made a few bows into which he inserted a small parchment label stating that the bow had been made by him in 1824 at the age of 77.
Bowmaking was without question raised by Tourte to the status of a fine art. His genius lay in crafting tools that not only made an invaluable contribution to string musicians and their music but were in themselves works of art, veritable sculptures in pernambuco.
See also Bow, §I, 4.
L'Abbé Sibire: La chélonomie, ou Le parfait luthier (Paris, 1806, repr. 1823/R, rev. 1885 by L. de Pratis)
F.-J. Fétis: Antoine Stradivari, luthier célèbre (Paris, 1856; Eng. trans., 1864/R)
J. Roda: Bows for Musical Instruments of the Violin Family (Chicago, 1959)
E. Vatelot: Les archets français (Paris, 1976, 2/1977) [in Fr., Ger. and Eng.]