Thompson Violins Ltd (USA) & Gary Leahy Bows (Ireland)

Thompson Violins Ltd (USA) & Gary Leahy Bows (Ireland), are makers and sellers of bows for violins and cellos.

CREST was approached to determine the elemental composition of antique bows made in the 1800s. Most were manufactures in France. The presence of Lead (Pb) was of particular interest.

A variety of bows made by several different makers were analysed using a Bruker Tracer 5i Handheld X-Ray Fluorescent (XRF) Unit, which was funded through Enterprise Ireland’s Technology Gateway / Technology Centre Capital Call.

XRF spectroscopy works by bombarding the substrate material with incident radiation. The electrons in the inner shell are ejected and an electron from an outer shell jumps down to fill the void. Outer shell electrons have a higher binding energy than inner shell electrons, therefore an electrons loses some energy when it drops from an outer shell to an inner one. This lost energy is emitted as light and this process is known as fluorescence. The individual fluorescent energies detected are specific to the elements that are present in the sample. Photographs of the experimental setup are shown below with the Tip of the bow carefully placed on top of the XRF detector.

The presence of Lead was detected in 2 of the 9 bows examined and provided the company with valuable insight into the techniques of Master Bow makers in 19th Century France.