Other
Free Trade Hall, Royal Northern College Of Music (RNCM)
1800

This bass bow, dating from around 1790, features a signature on the frog (the part of the bow which holds the hair strings in place) - that of Giovanni Bottesini. Bottesini was a virtuoso double bassist, conductor and composer, who visited Manchester in his early 30s as a soloist. He performed at the Free Trade Hall in 1852. This bow is from the collection of Josiah Chapman, a collector of string instruments, now part of the RNCM museum. We aren't sure how or where he acquired it so it but it's so interesting to have such a personal item from a visitor to the city so long ago.