It could be true?

Is this bow braced the wrong way?

I've seen so many composite bows braced that way in museums, and in pictures of museum exhibits, that I wonder:
1. is it just plain wrong, with the curators displaying ignorance?
2. might the bows have been arranged that way when not actually strung for shooting. but for carrying?

The bow in the pictures appears Turkish, and old. Even older than I am.

Many bows in museums show signs of not only being strung backwards, but also being draw backwards with broken bellies as a result.

The twentieth century was a treasure trove of research and inventions as far as archery went. However, many bows entered collections in the 17th through 19th century. At that time, there was little knowledge in Western museums about how composite bows worked. Many curators took the obvious route and just stretched a string from end to end across the recurves.

Bows that are strung with nocks on the back of the ears are not easily strung in reverse.

There is a tendency in museums not to change the way bows are displayed unless research is presented to show that there is something inaccurate in how they are set up. Also an old composite bow might no longer be safe to be braced and it is easier to leave it as it was.

Dear Bede ,

i think its true ," turkish " , and very old .
I?m very often in romania .
Is sighisoara perhaps timisoara ?
Than i can look for the bow .
What museum ?
Thanks.

Charly

Charly,
It would be good to have another impression. In Eastern Europe, there were several groups of people making horn and sinew composite bows. There were Armenian armourers at Lvov and Hungarian bowyers whose bows have survived.

With the condition of the bow as it is, I could not tell from photographs. As Adam Karpowicz has pointed out, there is more than one type of Turkish bow so just guessing from shape might be wrong.