This violin came to me in rough condition—partially sanded by a previous owner. The varnish on the top had been inconsistently removed, and one of the ribs had also been sanded down. I suggested that the best course of action would be to fully strip the top and that one rib, then revarnish to achieve a consistent finish.
So that’s where I started—creating a clean slate by carefully stripping the remaining varnish. But every time I sat down to work on it, I found myself unmotivated, and the project kept getting pushed aside.
Eventually, I decided to take a fresh approach: I would fully revarnish the violin and use it as an opportunity to experiment with a layered antiquing technique. The result turned out surprisingly well—the antiquing has a natural look and a depth that’s difficult to achieve with more straightforward methods.
IMG 20221213 172414 780
IMG 20240321 163529 841
IMG 20240321 163540 256
IMG 20240321 163551 925
IMG 20240321 163559 433
IMG 20240321 163609 489
IMG 20240321 163620 117
IMG 20240429 100700 900
IMG 20240511 170718 038
IMG 20240511 170857 157
IMG 20250228 162424 513
IMG 20250228 162434 955
Note: The last two images can be fully enlarged by clicking on the little enlarge symbol □↗ .
