Kees van Hemert – Bowmaker

Kees van Hemert received initial training at the workshop of Matthijs de Jong and worked in the position of bowmaker for the internationally recognised firm of Bouman’s, before opening his own successful establishment in Den Haag renowned for its Royal Conservatorium with its world famous department of early music.

Following a career as an artist, holding major exhibitions and lecturing in The Netherlands, and for a time in Australia, Kees van Hemert combines his visual expertise with suberb practical skills creating bows which are as functionally finely balanced as they are aesthetically pleasing – each one being an individual, one-off work of art in itself.

Kees van Hemert won The City of Perth Crafts Award for Excellence for the outstanding quality of his bows, and was recently honoured with membership of The Netherlands Association of Violin Makers and Bow Makers.

Kees van Hemert historical bows are used by specialist solo musicians like Hidemi Suzuki and Wouter Möller and chamber early music performers in orchestras such as The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, De Nederlandse Bachvereniging and Anima Eterna, La Petite Bande, Les Arts Florissants and the Japan Bach Collegium. His contemporary bows are used in modern orchestras throughout the world.

Whilst models and styles of bows certainly reflect and represent national styles and the changing aesthetics and fashions in music, they are difficult to catagorise deffinatively due partly to the international nature of music and musicians. Example bows are examples only, and represent an overview of a selection of models and styles which are here grouped together in a convenient manner. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your personal specialist requirements, which may include earlier Renaissance or Baroque models.