Bent Plates in Violin Construction

Author(s): Athanas Lolov

Source: The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 37 (Mar., 1984), pp. 10-15
Published by: Galpin Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/841136
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ATHANAS LOLOV

Bent

Plates

in

Violin

Construction

HEuse of benttop platesin the construction

of viols was recently
discussedby DietrichKessler.1He presentedconvincingevidence
thata viol topby RichardMeares(c.1660)wasformedatleastpartiallyof
slatsbentin the mannerof a luteback,andproposedthatsomemethod
of bendingmighthavebeenusedby otherwell-knownEnglishmakers,
most importantlyBarakNorman.The discoveryof what may have
been a schoolof bent-plateviol buildersin Englandis importantin
itself, but is particularly
interestingfor the supportit offersanother,
evenmorecontroversial,
theory:thatbendingcouldhavebeenusedby
some of the Cremonaviolin makers.
In his article concerningthe Mearesviol, Kesslerrejectedany
of thebendingmethodto two-piecetopssuchasareusedfor
application
violins,sayingonly thatthe bendingmethoddoesnot applyto violins
because'no bendingis used in their construction'.2
No supportwas
offeredfor thatstatement,it beingsimplyan assumption,
andthatis a
little surprisinggiven the innovativenatureof Kessler'sarticle.Most
peoplehadassumedno bendingto be involvedin viol topseither,until
he suggestedit. The presentstudydealswith a violinbelly whichwas
bent from slatsY56" thick using a methodvery differentfrom that
thatcould
employedby Kessler;the resultingplatehascharacteristics
thepeculiarities
of
suggestananswerto someof thequestionsregarding
violinsbuilt by the mastersof Cremona.
While carvingfrom a thick plankis certainlythe most familiar
methodfor makinga violin belly, and one with a long history,we
actuallyhaveno hardevidencethatStradivari's
tops,forexample,were
'dugfroma plank'.Wejusthaveassumedthattheywere.A respectfor
the scientificmethodrequiresat leastthatthis admittedlysomewhat
outlandish
Indeed,it is curiousthatin allthe
possibilitybe investigated.
of
the
Stradivari
eccentric
history
mystery,duringwhichinnumerable
or preposterous
ideashavecome forward,3no one, to my knowledge,
haseverproposedthatthemaster'stopsmighthavereceivedtheirinitial
formby bending.Thatthe ideais not so unnatural
is evidentfromthe
I
first
heard
it:
a
naive
visitor
looked
at a newly
way
musically
viol
and
'how
do
bend
the
?'
What
seemedat
asked,
completed
you
tops
10

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(b)M

PLATE IV

Violintop madefrom bentplates.(a) beforeand (b) afterjoining.

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first like a humorouserrorled to the building in 1981of a largeviol, on a

BarakNorman pattern,with a top formed by bending. I found it to be
an excellent instrument, powerful in tone, quick to speak, and
remarkablyfree of wolves. The bending method I used was one which
could be applied to a two-piece top, and it was not long before I began
to wonder about the application of bending to violins.
The violins of Stradivariand those of the Guarnerifamilyare alike in
that they are regarded as possessing a mysteriously irreproducable
beauty and power of tone. They also share some physical peculiarities
which are not easy to explainin the context of the traditionalmethod of
building:
1) The ribs usuallytaper from the side blocks to the top. Neither the
amountof taperingnor the maximumheight are consistentfrom violin
to violin, and the usualexplanationfor this tapering,that the belly thus
offers 'the necessaryresistanceto the neck',4 is questionable.William
Hill said of this feature, 'We entirely fail to perceive any fixed idea or
principle guiding Stradivari in determining the relative height of
sides . . ..

2) The f-holes almost always show distortion, the lower wing being
sunk beneath the plane of the plate. This effect is, of course, most
pronouncedon the right side, where the soundpost helps to supportthe
belly, but it does not appearin violins of later erasexcept when induced
by artificialmeans. EdwardHeron-Allen, in his classicwork on violin
construction,recommendedproducingthis effect by means of twisting
the wood with a small stick, a procedure which smacks of superficial
imitation.6
3) The grain of the top often appears to converge slightly at the
extremities of the centerjoint. This phenomenon is largely hidden by
the fingerboardand tailpiece, but is still visible in vertical photographs
of many masterinstruments.7The convergence is most easily observed
in instrumentswith very high arching.As long as the grain at the outer
extremesof the instrumentremainsstraight,the curvingof graintoward
the center could be a sign that the wood was bent upwardin the middle
(see Fig. 1 for a graphicrepresentation).The effect is, to be sure, very
subtle, and easily confused by irregulargrain, but in those instruments
where it is plainly visible it is hard to explain by any other
hypothesis.
Some of the historical evidence also poses questions:
1) Stradivariis reported to have preferredto split his own wood for
tops. This implies that he did not use wood seasoned for many years.
Could he have been moved by any reasonsother than economy? Could
a thick plate dry sufficiently in a short period to be safely employed in
11

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a violin? If he cut relatively thin slabs from green wood and wedged
them immediately, they would dry sufficiently in a single season and
retain their curve without further treatment.
2) It has often been suggested, as by Edward Heron-Allen in the
nineteenth century, that master builders split wood for violin tops,
ratherthan sawing it, to avoid disturbingthe longitudinalfibers.8Yet
how can one avoid disturbingthe fibers when carving begins? If the
grain follows the arch rather than being cut to it, more of the
longitudinal fibers will remainwhole, and the top will be a great deal
strengthened.
The example shown in Pl. IV b was bent by a simple process. The
wood used was two book-matchedslabsof Sitkaspruce,each /16"thick.
They were thoroughly soaked in water, and then clamped together
along three sides. (It is worth noting thatthe soakingin water could have
been skipped if freshly-cut green wood were available.) A pair of
wedges was then driven into the areascorrespondingto the upper and
lower bouts, the tips of the wedges being directed toward the center of
the curve of each bout. There are choices possible here; both the
orientationand the shape of the wedges could be alteredwith possibly
significant results. The wedging easily produced a recognizable
approximationof the flat-topped curve characteristicof Stradivari's
violins.
The wood, being thin, dried quickly,and retainedits new shapewell.
Beforejoining, the bent slabspresentedthe appearanceof havinggrown
apart at the center of their joint (see Plate IV a), a consequence of
bendingwhich necessitatedspot-gluingeach to a plankin orderto plane
thejoint straight.This is a step requiringsome skill and practice,owing
to the curvingof grainintroducedby the bend. Once glued, the grainat
the tail end of the joint can be seen to converge slightly, though
irregularityin the grain has made this effect invisible at the upper
end.
The plate does not lie flat; the edges are warped upwards in the
middle as a consequence of stressesinduced by the bending process.As
with the viol plates described by Kessler, some pressureis requiredto
force it down to meet the ribs. This provides a plausible motive for
tapering the ribs slightly, as less pressurewould then be required to
make the joint. Even with this partialmatch of ribs to belly, however,
some pressureis still required;this pressurecausesa small distortionof
the wings of the sound holes, resembling that which Heron-Allen
imitated by use of a stick.
The amount of distortion in the plate is unpredictable, being
different for each piece of wood. This could explain not only the
12

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variationsin the distortionof f-holes,but also the seeminglyrandom

variationin the rib heightof Stradivari's
works,assumingan attempt
was madeto shapethe ribs to at least partiallyconformto the top.
Carvingwas minimal,and was guidedby the roughlydefinedshape
alreadypresentin thewood.An addedbenefitwasthe abilityto follow
thefiberswiththeplane:becausethegrainwasrarelyinterrupted
by the
faceof a curve,the planeglidedeasily,eventravelling'uphill'without
diggingin. The relativelack of exposedfiberends shouldalso make
finishingeasier.
It is clearthatthelaborsavedby thismethodis considerable,
butthat
have
been
not
the
motive
for
a
maker
bend
to
might
only
tops.In the
seventeenthcenturythe costof materialsmadea muchmoresignificant
item, andthatcouldhave
proportionof the cost of anymanufactured
causeda craftsmanto considerways by which he mightdouble the
numberof instrumentsobtainablefrom a given amountof wood.
Whetherthe methodwas adoptedfromeconomicmotivesor froman
of thebenefitsin structural
understanding
strengthis, however,of little
importance.If it was indeedusedby the Cremonamakersit was used
becauseit worked,andperhapswaskeptas a tradesecretfor the same
reason,a feat which would not be difficult since the bulk of the
labor in violin manufacturewas concernedwith the other parts
of the instrument.Kessler'sdiscoveryof a (probablynot unique)
violbellymadeby bendingin seventeenth-century
Englandis proofthat
even such a large trade secret as this one can be both kept and
forgotten.
Furtherresearchshouldfocuson anexamination
of the centerjoints
of a wide rangeof masterviolins,and, if possible,on a microscopic
examination
of the fibersin a sectionof the arch,shoulda fragmentof
one of theseinstruments
everbe available.Convergenceof grainatthe
and
bottom
of
the
top
joint is an unavoidableartifactof the bending
to theeye, asis evidencedby theplate
processbutis notalwaysapparent
describedabove.Yet, even in this platecarefuluse of a straightedge
withthephotograph
will reveala slightconvexityof grainon bothsides
of the joint; instrumentsdisplayingthis characteristic
mayjustly be
suspectedof havingbeen bent. Fig. 1 providesa clearerimageof the
effect of bendingon grain.The drawingwas madeby photographing
ruledpaperbent to roughlythe curveof a violin belly; the lack of
irregularityin the 'grain'makesthe convergenceat the centerjoint
moreobvious,thoughif the centerjoint were not visiblethe curveof
eventheseruledlineswouldnotbe strikinglyapparent.Stradivari's
last
instruments
were somewhatflatterthanthismodelandanycurvingof
grainwill consequentlybe still more subtle.
13

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__?_ ??__?______?_
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FIG.

1. Simulation of bent plate top.

It is unfortunatethatclose examinationof a masterinstrumentis very

difficult to arrange, as a much higher degree of certainty could be
obtainedmerely by looking under the tailpiece and fingerboardwith an
illuminatedmirror.The superficialexaminationsalreadymade, without
the opportunity to look beneath tailpieces and fingerboards,indicate
that many of the violins thought to be from Cremonese masters have
signs consistent with what would be expected from a bent top, while
instrumentsfrom other schools and later eras generally do not. This
suggestsan interestingpossibility,thatif the bent-platetheory is proved
a fact, the violin tradewill be providedwith a powerful tool with which
to judge the authenticityof supposed Cremonese violins. 'Le Messie',
the most famous of the violins attributedto Stradivari,for example, is
alone among the instrumentsexamined superficiallyin that it displays
none of the characteristicsdescribed above. A careful reading of the
story of 'Le Messie' shows that its history before its possession by
Vuillaumerests entirely on the veracity of that maker, who was famed
for his accurate copies of master instruments.Is it possible that 'Le
Messie' is one of them?
There are many factorsinvolved in the making of a fine violin, and
the mannerof shapingthe top cannot, by itself, necessarilybe decisive
for the outcome. However, the bent-top theory is the first to provide a
plausible explanationfor the unbroken string of failureswhich marks
the record of modern attemptsto reproducewith consistencythe tonal
qualities of Cremona violins. The varnisheshave been examined with
x-ray spectroscopy;every dimension has been measuredwith all the
exactitude of which our technology is capable; the woods have been
matchedso closely that variationbetween any two violins of one of the
old mastersfar exceeds the difference between a modern copy and its
original. And yet all the masterviolins, regardlessof their variationin
14

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shape,dimensions,andfinish,sharetonalqualitieswhichset themfar
above any of the copies. Even age cannotwholly accountfor the
were famouseven when he
difference,sincethe violinsof Stradivari
wasalive.Conversely,Villaume'scopiesarenow closeto two hundred
yearsold, andshowno signsof beginningto soundlike theirmodels.A
basicstructuraldifferencebetweenthe fiber arrangement
of the old
violinsandthatof the new wouldprovidea rationalexplanationof the
phenomenon,though it would deprive us of the romantichope,
cherishedby many,thatStradivari
andhis peerswere simplypossessed
of magicalpowers,an ideawhichcertainlywouldhaveamusedthose
superbcraftsmen.
The authorthanksJeffreyEvansfor hismanysuggestionsduringthe
of this paper.
preparation
NOTES
iDietrich Kessler,'Viol Constructionin 17th-centuryEngland',EarlyMusic
10, No. 3 (July 1982), 340-345.
2 ibid.,
p. 345.
3 For example, it has been suggested that Stradivari'svarnish contained
powdered diamonds,and that the wood for his instrumentswas cured by being
soaked six months in urine.
4See August Riechers, 'The Violin and Its Construction', in Violin
Iconographyof Antonio Stradivari,1644-1737, by Herbert K. Goodkind
(Larchmont,New York: Privately printed, 1972), p. 128.
William Hill, AntonioStradivari,
His Lifeand Work1644-1737 (New York:
5
Dover, 1963), p. 55.
6 EdwardHeron-Allen,
as It WasandIs, 2nd Ed. (New York:
Violin-Making
Carl Fischer, 1885), p. 258, fig. 155.
7 For examples, see Karel
Jalovec, Italian Violin Makers (London: Paul
Hamlyn, 1964), Plates 62, 148, 156, 171, 186, 192, 197, 231, 244, 256, 362, 369.
Also Walter Hamma, Meisteritalienischer
Geigenbaukunst
(Stuttgart: Schuler,
1964), plates 603, 604, 615, 622, 630, 640, 642, 653, 654, 656, 659.
8
Heron-Allen, p. 133.

15

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