Carlo Giuseppe Testore violin c.1703 poster

This fine-sounding Milanese violin, with a one-piece belly and imitation purfling, is still in excellent condition. Includes measurements

‘The ribs of the top and bottom bouts were both formed from two pieces. This would have been extraordinary in Cremona but it was a common event in Milan. The makers there also often employed two-piece neck-blocks, rather than the one-piece ribs used in Cremona, to counter the problems caused by the neck-block being split by nails when the neck was attached to the ribs’ – Roger Hargrave in the June 2004 issue of The Strad