Increasingly shut out of the opportunity to play Old Masters, they have every incentive to shed the traditional dealer system to find modern alternatives. There are modern makers producing instruments considered first rate by musicians. Some of the best makers have waiting lists of five or more years for their instruments. But even the modern market has lately come under new pressure. Violin bows, since 1800 made almost exclusively out of a particular kind of wood found in north-east Brazil, are about to face major price escalation.
Brazil proposes a ban on export of the wood.
The bow-makers are up in arms. There's a quality that inspires you. Not a tragedy, perhaps, given the improving alternatives, but also not the purpose for which fine instruments were intended. As art of every kind is increasingly fetishized for its celebrity value, the violin market is a lesson in the perversity of elevating market value over intrinsic worth.