Blank face

Maybe old school politeness to say something nice about a customer's violin. "At least it has left enough edge"....

Thanks for the reminder! That's of course the most relevant essay actually available about the 19th century Mittenwald making. So I have to correct me about the date when the N&H firm was established, what happened obviously somehow "before 1815" as it is explained there (exact date unknown). What can't be found during the first half of the century are labels bearing this name. During the first decades all labels were still signed as "Mathias Neuner" in different variations, and the Neuner & Hornsteiner firm name pops up maybe about 1861 (that's mentioned by Lüttgendorf). OTOH I had a violin with an 1862 dated Mathias Neuner label (s.below, imprinted letters). so both seem to have been used simultaneously for a while. At least a label like the pictured from 1812 is an anchronism. In regards of the violin itself isn't much to tell by the unfossed photos, but the purfling looks like the wide dark/narrow white type which would be typical for a Markneukirchen from the end of the 19th century onwards.

And after you left from gate 9 threequarter?

I would need to look up the exact date, but the Neuner & Hornsteiner firm was established not earlier than in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Therefore an 1812 date is impossible anyway.

All the grain lines in this area are running out at the top of the stick. As long as all are solid it's not problematic, but if one of them just slightly opens at the upside it will run down through the stick completely

Similar engravings were applied to thousands and more thousands of mostly fancy Markneukirchen and Schönbach bows from late 19th till roughly mid 20th century.

The big question will be if any custom officers or authority will be able to distinguish between different species of bow woods, even to tell apart tropical and non tropical sorts. The actual ivory ban often doesn't work due to similar reasons.

There were a lot of discussions about wood shrinkage, percentual rates etc. here which I didn't followed up or recall completely, but the quintessence of all is IMO and practical experience that all the shrinkage and swelling is to the biggest part compensated by the arching. It means, if the glue joints betwen belly and ribs are stable there's always "much edge" left, because the arching flattens out due to the tension, but the edge still keeps the same. Just when you're opening the violin this tension and flattening will be released and you will notice that the "enough edge" has disappeared at the moment you're going to put it all together again. An assumed wood quality doesn't change anything to this.

Or point to a sunken down arching. Such a single and isolated observation out of other context seems to be meaningless, if not directly misleading.

Ooops, that was what I meant, not at the frog end. Just what happens when being in a hurry. I also missed that numbers 3 and 4 are different bows, because they look so similar. Therefore the Villaume barnded is number 5, but the rest applies the same. Reg. price, this might depend of issues we cannot see at the photos. If there are some hidden damages like cracks, the whole lot could be virtually worthless. Like others said, one can buy a couple of bows like these for one hundred, but also for a multiple (surely not should pay 100 K), depending on a lot of factors, condition, weight and other circumstances.

Numbers 1-3 are more or less unexpensive german student bows, 1 and 3 possibly penambuco, at 2 the wood isn't clear to tell by the photo. Number four is a Mirecourt shop bow, possibly pernambuco. The dark line behind the frog could be a crack, but also not to tell for sure by the unfocussed photo. The diagonal grain lines would make the bow prone to crack in this area. G. Villaume was a dealer, but the brand looks fresh and spurious anyway.

Isn't it spelled La Provence?

Not a Thir, and the Ebay photos in higher resolution give clear evidence that it's a crudely manipulated artifact of undefinite origin.

It's relatively easy to seperate old Viennese from Markneukirchen using the Mnk vs Mittenwald/Austrian checklist.https://maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/topic/325798-quiz-for-addie/ What I'm seeing at the photos are grain lines and medullary rays crossing the "graft", also a crude attempt to fake bushings. Never saw the "wear" like here at the lower rib other than as artificially applied, but who knows what's existing between heaven and earth.

It’s somehow funny how fast it can come down from „upgrade advanced to pro“ to „an ok fiddle“.