W E Hill & Sons ceased trading in 1991 and string players from all over the world continually seek out their fine products, in particular the bows which often are sold on Ebay.

Hills employed and trained the finest bowmakers, many of whom became well known after leaving and setting up on their own, and they had a large stock of well seasoned pernambuco wood which became harder to obtain during the latter 1900s.

Their bows carry several different stamps denoting the experience of the maker and the quality of the fittings. Hill ... H&S....WEH&S....W E Hill & Sons, the latter being the full stamp. The quality of the bow is not affected as many of the plain bows were made by their best makers in their apprentice years.Bows from the full stamp were finished in silver or gold, the frogs being made of ebony, ivory, or tortoiseshell. 

 Hill bows are popular with professional orchesra players who demand a strong stick which is well balanced. Their quality control and traditions of making ensured that a Hill bow would have those attributes.

Individual makers in the workshop had their own number or identifying mark which was stamped at the tip under the hair, and often under the frog. Details of the marks and numbers for Hill bowmakers can be found on www.hillbows.com

Malcom M Taylor of Barnstable, one of their senior bowmakers who left Hills in 1971 told me that the frog was half of the work in making a bow as all the metalwork was done by the maker, and that makers made either sticks or frogs in the workshop, one reason being to discourage makers setting up on their own in competition with Hills, however the skills were shared when the supervisor was not looking and this was no bar to many of the best makers leaving . Malcom said that many left when Hills introduced a time and motion study, very trendy in the 70s, and made them alter the traditional way of carving and heating the stick which the experienced makers could not swallow.

Most W E Hill & Son bows on Ebay are obvious fakes. The Hill stamp on the frog should be "upside down" due to the makers tradition of holding the bow at the frog with the hair upwards to view it, and the tip should be metal, silver or gold, with the makers number or sign under the mortice which is covered by the hair, so any Hill bow with an ivory tip or stamped with the lettering reading the right way up and with the stick upwards and hair downwards is questionable, altough rarely a genuine Hill bow is seen with an ivory tip. It was also a Hill practice to mount the frog directly onto the stick although this is not invariably the case.

Passing this test does not guarantee that you have the genuine article, and you should check the seller very carefully asking lots of questions including where it came from, receipt, etc. Buying any instrument with a name on Ebay is a minefield, but this article will I hope be a help.

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