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Possibly the script is in an Arabic language. Are you sure it is carved stone, or could it be clay?
Here's a link to a searchable directory of violin shops; members of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers, they subscribe to a code of...
Actually, we can send private messages. In the upper right, on the menu bar, is a link to "Inbox." Hover over it, and the drop down will include...
I don't really have an opinion as to native vs. non-native, but an expert in native stone might. I did find a lot of interesting articles on what...
Bannerstone is the name I was thinking of; opinions vary as to what they were used for. Commonly found in the Eastern USA....
Likely native/Indian, but native stone isn't my area of knowledge.... I can come up with a name for this kind of thing, but others will have to...
I like it!
Lyon and Healy apparently imported violins from a number of sources; and some of them were quite good makers, thus the occasional sale of a L&H...
Maybe it is supposed to be M for Mexico? I can almost see one of the upstrokes between the darker "III" lines
I haven't either, but certainly could be something related to import laws.
PS, None of the violin dealers I was visiting last weekend (at the Wintergrass Music Festival in Bellevue WA) had ever heard of a Lyon and...
Not real Africans, certainly! But if we're talking Bali tourist items, with a fantasy-African theme, anything goes. Like the Lombok baskets...
Soapstone is highly variable in color; but certainly harder stones such as rhodonite can be carved also, and I'd not be surprised if one could...
I would indeed be thinking import store; but as to what culture it might be referencing, or if just a fantasy item from Bali or the like, I...
One odd thing is that there is a single hole in the top of the forehead, presumably for hanging it on the wall.....that kind of hanging method...
I'd agree entirely with Brenda, best to have a professional do it. The tailpiece does go on with just a loop of gut or today plastic; but it has...
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