A CLOSER LOOK

The Strad’s lutherie consultant Philip Ihle put together this month’s poster of the ‘Salabue, Martzy’. Here he points out several extra details to help luthiers make an exact copy of the instrument

When I studied the ‘Salabue, Martzy’ in New York last year, it was with the aim of learning as much as possible about this beautiful, inspiring violin in order to help me make a close copy. The Strad’s latest poster, with all its carefully taken outlines, arching curves and measurements on the back, provides the information we need to build that model. In the process of studying the instrument I took a number of reference photos. The ten selected here highlight certain details that are not easily visible on the poster, and can further contribute to our understanding of the violin – specifically its varnish and the character of its making.

1 OVERHANG AND RIB MITRES

The outline is very similar in proportion to a P-form Stradivari. It is only 1-2mm shorter, with much longer C-bouts and less recurve in the corners. The overhang looks small, especially in combination with the edge thickness of up to 5mm. The rib mitres are stout. Because I had a little spare time, I made some templates of these as well, which can be seen on the poster.

2 F-HOLES AND SURFACE TEXTURE

The f-holes sit in a low and gentle arch. The cut is clean and the walls are almost parallel and perpendicular to the arch. The broad lower wing is lightly fluted. I took a rubbing of the f-holes, which The Strad uses for producing the outlines on the back of the poster. Templates made from rubbings differ greatly from those made following a photo. On this gentle arch, however, the difference will be relatively small.

ALL PHOTOS PHILIP IHLE

3 THE VOLUTE

The first turn of the volute shows strong toolmarks from a flat tool. On this close-up we can also see the moderate depth and gentle sweep of the fluting.

4a Irregular purfling

4b The bee-strings point towards the centre

4 PURFLING AND BEE-STINGS

The purfling is irregular; the black lines vary greatly in widths and have a frayed, untidy character (4a). One possible cause may be that the strip was standing proud in the varnishing stage, maybe due to its behaviour when finishing and colouring the wood ahead of varnishing. The wood finish usually involves wet or dry abrading of the wood, and the purfling can ‘swell up’, especially if water is involved.

The corners are short and stout, with the bee-stings pointing towards the centre (4b). There is no deviation from the outline.

5 VARNISH SURFACE FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE

At an angle, the dark flame turns into an intense orange. According to the varnish expert Pierre Flavetta, this may be down to the staining of the wood. The varnish surface shows a history of over-polishing, but the purfling is still raised in spite of this, giving it this ‘frayed’ appearance.

6a Upper bout rib

6b C-bout rib looking down

6 HIDDEN SPOTS AND EDGEWORK

These close-ups show details that rarely get the spotlight: the tighter bends of the C-bout ribs. The varnish is intact with hardly any wear, and there is quite a large build-up of patina. Also beautifully visible is the inside chamfer of the back plate and a rather wonky rib mitre, when compared with the rib in the upper bout (6a). On 6b I wanted to record the broad, flat part in this little-worn section of the edge of the back.

7 VARNISH SAMPLE COMPARED WITH THE BACK

The pores of the maple are extremely open and colourful, which results in a strong, high-definition look. The medullary rays are long and light. The intense orange colour is in the wood and penetrates deep into the flames. Compared with other classical Cremonese violins there is not much difference in colour where the colour varnish has worn off to the wood, because such a great part of the colouration happens in the wood.

Ahead of my trip to study this violin, I prepared a number of sample pieces, and found the ones with strong HD look and orange varnish in the flame worked best.

8 LOWER BOUT RIBS

Again we see the small overhang, the substantial edge height, and a wide inside chamfer on the back, cut at a very flat angle, which can also be seen at the corner. However, I chose this spot because it shows how the layers of colour varnish and patina are wearing off softly from a black–brown down to a light orange spot in a natural, subtle way.

Many thanks for the generous help of Rare Violins of New York, for providing me with access to study the ‘Salabue, Martzy’ Bergonzi