James Tubbs was a British bow maker based in London who crafted violin, viola, and cello bows throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His bows are characterized by round sticks with ebony frogs and varied mounting styles in both silver and chased gold. Tubbs stamped his bows with variations of his name, including 'Jas. Tubbs' and 'J. Tubbs,' and London as his location of manufacture [1][2]. He was sufficiently established by 1880 to present a bow to the renowned violinist August Wilhelmj, which was engraved with a dedication and the date [1]. Tubbs continued his craft into advanced age; a bow in his collection is explicitly engraved as 'Made by James Tubbs in his 84th year 1918,' indicating he was still working at that time [2]. His bows entered notable private collections, including those of Wilhelmj and Rosenberg.
Sources: [{"index":1,"url":"https://ingleshayday.com/notable-sales-instrument/a-chased-gold-mounted-violin-bow-by-james-tubbs-2/","description":"Auction catalog entry for Wilhelmj bow with gold mounting and 1880 dedication"},{"index":2,"url":"https://ingleshayday.com/notable-sales-instrument/a-chased-gold-mounted-birthday-violin-bow-by-james-tubbs/","description":"Auction catalog entry for bow made in Tubbs\u0027 84th year (1918)"}]
We track 15 instrument(s) attributed to James Tubbs in our database.
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