Nicolas Maline cello bow, Mirecourt circa 1860

Nicolas Maline (1822–1877) was born in Mirecourt, France to a family of luthiers. Son of violin maker Guillaume Maline (1792–1859), he apprenticed in the family workshop and is believed to have been employed at the workshop of Étienne Pajeot. In 1840, Maline relocated to Paris to work for Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, producing numerous bows with the signature Vuillaume-style rounded frogs. After leaving the Vuillaume workshop, Maline served in the French military and was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 1849. As Maline’s bow production became more prolific in the 1850s, he established his own workshop where he trained his son Nicolas Auguste Eugène Maline (1855–c.1917) and his nephew François Alexandre Maline (1862–1922), whose own son, Pierre Maline (1883–1934), would become a prominent name in 20th-century French bow making.

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