François Xavier Tourte (1747 - 1835) was a Frenchman who made bows to play western classical string instruments such as the violin. He is considered to be the single most important figure in bringing the bow into its modern form. Events January 31 - The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Dock Hospital April 9 - The Scottish Jacobite Lord Lovat was beheaded by axe on Tower Hill, London, for high treason; he was the last man to be executed in this way in Britain May 3 - Battle of Cape Finisterre... 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... France - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. ... Classical music is music considered classical, as sophisticated and refined, in a regional tradition. ... A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a fifth apart. ...

Tourte's father also made bows, and initially he set up business with his brother. They quarelled, however, and went their separate ways.

It has been pointed out Tourte did not actually make many new inventions in bow making, but rather brought the best inventions of other makers together into bows which surpassed those which had gone before. In some sources, though, Tourte is credited with the invention of the ferrule (ring) of the bow, the D-shaped metal part that ensures the hair ribbon is flat.

Tourte's bows are made from pernambuco wood, the most usual form of wood used on professional bows today, bent by being exposed to heat. He established the standard size for violin bows, at around 75 centimetres. Tourte's bows tended to be heavier than previous models, with more wood at the tip of the bow counterbalanced by a heavier frog (the device connecting the hair to the stick at the end nearest the player's hand). Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Brazilian Northeast. ... The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a fifth apart. ... cm redirects here, alternate uses: cm (disambiguation) A centimetre (symbol cm; American spelling: centimeter) is an SI unit of length. ...