Arthur John Barnes

Bow maker
(1888 – 1945)

Arthur John Barnes (1888–1945)

Arthur John Barnes was an English bow maker associated with the celebrated firm of W. E. Hill & Sons. Originally trained as a cabinet maker, he joined the Hill workshop in 1919 and remained there until 1939, working during one of the firm's most productive periods of bow manufacture.

Like the other craftsmen in the Hill workshop, Barnes generally ...Read More worked anonymously under the firm's name rather than signing bows himself. His work can nevertheless be identified by the Hill maker's mark 5, used internally to distinguish his production. Surviving examples include violin, viola and cello bows, generally branded W. E. Hill & Sons, and demonstrate the disciplined workmanship and consistency expected of the Hill shop.

Barnes was reportedly deaf, which appears to have limited his advancement within the workshop despite his considerable manual skill. He was nevertheless a capable and dependable craftsman, and examples of his work range from straightforward silver-mounted bows to more elaborate gold-mounted examples. In some instances he also collaborated in the workshop system, making fittings or frogs for sticks produced by other Hill craftsmen.

Today Barnes is recognized as one of the identifiable makers within the important generation of Hill bow makers active between the two World Wars, and his bows remain characteristic examples of the firm's refined English school of bow making. Read Less

Price History

- The auction record for this maker is $9,407 in Mar 2024, for a viola bow.
- 40 auction price results.

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