CARVING THE THROAT. The frog part 3.

To fit on the silver ferrule, a projection or tenon is cut into the ebony frog piece and this is shaped until the ferrule slides on tightly. Then the frog is brought down to the final height and length. The sides of the frog are scooped out with a gouge and then we are ready to start the ‘degorgement’ or throat. Like the head, the frog is a sculptural form defined by its function of holding a flattened band of hair a certain distance off the stick and sliding back to tension the hair as needed. Beyond that the frogs shape is defined by a combination of tradition and the desire of each maker to do something different, something a little different from the next maker. This is expressed most noticeably in the sculptural shape of the throat, the area between the ferrule and the thumb projection. The throat can be squared off and angular as in Persois’s bows or gently rounded as in Voirin’s or a combination of the two as in Peccatte’s.

The challenge of the throat’s design lies in the fact that the ferrule presents a steeply convex surface while the sides of the frog are hollowed out or concave. Then the thumb projection is steeply concave again so the throat’s shaping must gracefully traverse these opposing surfaces. In addition the continuation of the flanks of the frog into the throat can be abrupt or tapering inward to a small radius. So this simple shape bounded on three sides by the rest of the frog can manifest an almost infinite number of shapes that express the personalities behind them.

The throat is shaped with a knife and here as in the head we rely on tools that give us the measure of control we need. Once the shape is fully defined, some strokes of a needle file smooth it out and we are ready to go on. Now the frog looks complete except that there are no channels, mortise or pearl eyes and slide. The polishing will come later.