Nikolaus Kittel

Nikolai Kittel

Nikolai Kittel, fully Nikolai Ferdinandovich Kittel (1805 - 18 April 1868) was a Russian bow maker who until recently thought to be of German origin, and was known as the "Russian Tourte". According to the latest findings, we now know that his full name was Nikolai Ferdinandovich Kittel and that he was actually of Austrian origin as it is stated in his marriage certificate. Kittel himself always signed letters and invoices with the name Nikolai Kittel. In all German and French documents (undiscovered till today), he is named Nikolai, no single time as Nikolaus.

Kittel was an enigmatic figure (who worked in St. Petersburg 1825-1868). He is known to have employed some of the leading makers, (as did his great Parisian contemporary Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume), including Russian, Vladimir Ivanoff, and German makers such as Heinrich Knopf (and Ludwig Bausch ?), to make his bows.

In Czarist Russia N. Kittel served as violinmaker to the court, making superb violins which were considered the best being made in Russia, and produced bows of unsurpassed quality, often using beautiful highly flamed wood.

The design of Kittel bows is also derived from an advanced Tourte model although this interpretation of Tourte is distinctly different from the French interpretations.

His bows are rare and highly prized by soloists.

Kittel bows are nearly always quite light and flexible. Despite their flexibility, Kittel bows have extremely quick playing characteristics alongside a unique beauty of tone.

"Nikolai Kittel died on April 18, 1868 at the age of 63. In his obituary, it stated: 'Thus, in the realm of the bow, the curtain was drawn on a career of memorable achievement'.

"Henri Vieuxtemps preferred Kittel bows even to those of F.X. Tourte. Since then, Kittel's bows have been used by the greatest soloists, among them Wieniawski, Heifetz, Elman, Seidel, Leopold Auer, Stern, Kochanski, Rosand, Erica Morini, Zimbalist, Kogan, Menuhin and today Vadim Repin. Kittel bows are extremely rare.

In 1999, a gold and tortoiseshell-mounted violin bow made in St Petersburg in the mid 19th century by Nikolai Kittel, from the The Yehudi Menuhin Collection, fetched £51,000 (Sotheby's auction, London : £58,650 / US$94,837 with buyers premium) more than three times the high pre-sale estimate (est: £10,000-15,000)." - Filimonov Fine Violins - 2007

Quotes

• "Until the collapse of Soviet Union (1989-1990), the exact birth date and the date of his death was ambiguous due to lack of factual information from behind the "Iron Curtain", especially due to the many events such as the Bolshevik Revolution, the Russian Civil War, World War I, World War II and of course the Cold War (mid-1940s until the early 1990s). Many of the well known violin/bow books starting with the Lutgendorff (pub.1922) and some who have since copied his "information" (such as the Henley, Roda, Vannes and others), relied on speculation stating his dates as (1839–1870) . To reiterate, the correct date for this maker is: Nikolaus Kittel/ Nikolai Ferdinandovich Kittel b.1805-d. April 18, 1868 ". Gennady Filimonov (2007)
• "Nikolai Kittel died on April 18, 1868 at the age of 63. In his obituary, it stated: 'Thus, in the realm of the bow, the curtain was drawn on a career of memorable achievement'.
• "Heifetz: I prefer my Kittel that Professor Auer gave me as a gift a long time ago. But I don't always use it. I have others. The Kittel must rest. It gets tired. . . sometimes it needs hair." - Jascha Heifetz

• Nikolai Ferdinandovich Kittel was born 1805 or 1806 in St. Petersburg, Roman Catholic, Austrian nationality, counted back from his marriage certificate from 27 July 1841, when he marries at the age of 35. E. Vitachek designates the year of birth 1806, however, without documentation.

• Filimonov Fine Violins
• Moscow, Russian Federation archives
• An Interview with Herbert Axelrod", VSA Proceedings, Vol. IV, No. 1, Winter, 1977/78, 1977.
• The Bows of Nikolai Kittel- Klaus Grünke, Josef P. Gabriel, Yung Chin in co-operation with Darling Publications Andy Lim Cologne, 2011

World Record Price

• London, March, 2015 – A FINE AND RARE CELLO BOW BY NIKOLAI KITTEL, Gold and tortoiseshell mounted stick c. 1850 Tarisio Auctions, London: GBP 143,000 (US$211,543.24) Filimonov Fine Violins - 2015

• "A FINE AND RARE CELLO BOW BY NIKOLAI KITTEL, Gold and tortoiseshell mounted stick c. 1850", auction details