"The French bow maker François-Xavier Tourte, more commonly known as François Tourte or Tourte le jeune, is often referred to as 'the inventor of the modern bow,' or 'the Stradivari of the bow.' His bows, dating from the end of the eighteenth century and the early decades of the nineteenth, had a marked effect upon the
timbre of violins and upon performance practice, enabling new forms of expression and articulation to be developed, and in particular, facilitating the increased use of
legato. François Joseph Fétis's entry in the second, expanded edition of his
Biographie Universelle des Musiciens et Bibliographie Générale de la Musique (1860–65) has until recently been the only source of biographical information about François Tourte. Some thirty documents recently discovered in French archives provide further fresh insight into this maker's life and work." Stewart Pollens, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York "Tourte - French family of bowmakers and luthiers. It 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." - Paul Childs == References ==