Blank face

Don't worry, the remark wasn't aiming at you, more to members joining similar threads since a long period. I think that Jacob has already given a targeted repair plan. I recently came across a similar case, studs and crossbars over veneer over patches, and it took me half a day or less to chisel and soak out all this old mess, not months or decades, and another two weeks for cleaning, reglueing, soundpost patching in a cast etc., so I can't see that this would be an over challenging labour for a loved instrument of a close related person. But everybody as he perfers. The "footwalk from Markneukirchen" note was regarding the constructional and stylistic features, as far as possible to detect at the presented photos. The internal and external condition of the instrument makes it difficult to give a more precise place and period, but rougly said, the construction of the ribs, the treatment of surfaces inside and outside as well as certain features of model, ff and scroli (Jacob named a few) makes it probable that the OP instrument is from the built on the back/through neck/carved bass bar etc. school, which had it's center in the Markneukirchen/west Bohemian area, but was also reaching to places like Silesia, the Austrian Salzkammergut and some smaller central or southern Bohemian villages. This might include some very extended footwalks, but it was the way the journeymen used to travel in these days. In general and in particular for the named reasons it can be difficult to date such instruments, but I'm assuming a rough time frame of the first half of the 19th century. In opposite, the Danubian and Mittenwald school used the inside mould construction, with mortised linings, and the Füssener did (after starting in earlier days with building on the back) the same from the second half of the 18th on. @romberg flat: It's possible that your interpretation is right, but I just wouldn't be so sure about it, considering the condition of the small battered piece of paper and the numerous variations in old handwritings. The suspicion of wishful thinking was more directed to those searching for an evidence of the mystic Tyrolean violin production.

Either way, if you're reading this like p, where is the f?It could also be a version of z, y, q or g. At least, there's something missing at the left side, not sure about the E, too. So I won't dare to say, what it's actually meaning. What about Birzendorf, Wiegendorf etc.? Never doubted, that this is an old writing, but like I tried to eloborate above, it's meaning regarding the violin, the way and reason it was attached remains pure speculation. Like many other papers used in making, it could be a piece of an old chronicle, put to waste by a monastery and recycled for a different use. In fact it appears to be not very carefull solved from elsewhere and attached neither carefully after the installation of the center patch.

I cannot make out any "p", which would be necessary for this interpretation - it seems more a "wish creates vision" thing. BTW, like Jacob mentioned, there ain't any prove that this piece of paper (rather than parhment IMO) belongs into the violin from the beginning or points to the place of origin. Many german/austrian violins had recycled paper and parchment stripes as bottom joint reinforcements, or sometimes to cover knots etc. Could be from an owner, a dealer, a repairer or just a fancy decoration.

Nathan, the advantages and function of cleats instead of thin veneer, parchment or linen for plate crack repairs (nort rib) was discussed several times, at last here by Jeffrey Reg. the working methods here one could add, that the biggest enemy of any proper and lasting repair is the urge of a player, owner or the repair person to play it soon again, the wish to know "how does it sound" and every other reason for hurry and impatience. This includes overvarnishing and destroying the rests of identificable varnish relicts as much as over cleating and wallpapering failed or unacceptable older butcheries.

Sometimes I'm wondering how all this efforts made here in uncountable threads to give some basic informations how to distinguish between Vogtland, Mittenwald or "Danubian" (which includes Prague and Vienna) seemed to be wasted. Jacob gave several courses about cornerblockology, for instance here As long as all those informations are ignored, this guessing and seeking is a big waste of electric energy. Not to mention all this "repair" (better violin torture) methods.

Looking at the style of antiquing and the model, I'm putting my money on french/Caussin.

Only if the Füssen Diaspora would include the "footwalk away from Markneukirchen" area in the middle of the 19th century.......

The label appears to be of the type which is glued into violin cases or similar accessoires sold by a shop. They are often abused to sign otherwise uninteresting instruments. See how it's damaged, caused by awkward solving and reglueing.

I can't see, if the lower rib is one piece or divided. Can you tell something about the inside work, symmetrical or assymetrical corner blocks, linings inserted, cut or with the tips over the blocks, and which wood? Interesting scroll, the soundpostcracked back is a pity.

In more than 30 years I never came upon nor even ever heard of a violin maker WA Hammig in Berlin; Lüttgendorf gives a Wilhelm August Hammig in Markneukirchen only, with dates of 1837 and 1865, which aren't birth and death, but most probably dated labels. His son , Wilhelm Herrmann, worked a while at the Grimm shop in Berlin, before settling in Leipzig 1875, if we can trust the same source. I added a photo of a Wilhelm Herrmann, which looks like a quite decent saxon work, possibly made of a Markneukirchen prefabricated white box, like all of his contemporaries in the region did. The work of his father might look a bit more "traditional" old Vogtlandish, with through neck, no fluted ff etc. There was a certain change of models around the middele of the 19th century more to the Strad-inspired style. Furthermore one should consider, that most of the Markneukirchen makers during this period worked anonymously for the wholesaler and didn't put any label or visible signature in their violins, so it might be extremely hard to find a signed example of Wilhelm August.

A one piece lower rib with notch isn't exclusive for Mittenwald, it's a feature of many schools using inside moulds, the same with the other features you are mentioning. If not american made, it could be from the austro-hungarian KuK countries (which included Prague, south Bohemia and more), for instance. Impossible to decide without pictures (and even with photos often hard).

Without any photos or clearer description it is hard to work out what is a mid 19th ct. Mittenwald with "a few oddities including non let-in linings (repairs?)" but "other tell tales". With all respects, this could be something else from elsewhere, because in my book the construction with let-in (mortised) linings and typical form of the corner blocks is what separates usually Mittenwald work from the rest. Beside this, it's not impossible, but rather improbable that the Mittenwald production has a need to import timber from abroad, in the 19th century they were in my knowledge the biggest exporter of wood. There's a correspondence of Vuilaume, for instance, with his Mittenwald wood supplier, and Vuillaume complained about the quality and asked for a new stock. OTOH, I'm in no way an expert for wood/maple origin. The only thing I can tell, if it's within the usual appearance we are seeing at north or central european instruments or somehow different. What about this, which is neither of Mittenwald nor american origin, but of a different figure than the usual here? Could it be from an american species, too?

You are referring to this "An alternative to the flat board if you wish to try it: We've experimented with no-cast/no patch arching correction at Oberlin and had some promising results by clamping the plate to a stout bass-bar frame (to keep it flat, like on the board... but this will give you access to the distorted area) and suspending the frame/plate, varnish side down. We've then cut a sheet of craft paper to cover the distorted area, dampened it, laid it down, and covered it with a warm sand bag... waited, watched, re-warmed the bag and dampened the paper again as needed, and then left it to dry completely (that does take days). " Of course, that's dampening and soft application. But I think there was another thread discussing a method of more extensive soaking with linen stripes, can't find it actually. Either way, the point is that you're doing it at some selected areas to make them go "up", while nearby areas are going the other way. Patience is the important factor.

Recently there was an interesting thread discussing some methods using soaking, fixing to a frame or clamping with small logs to correct distortions. Gonna post a link when I've found it.

I tried to describe before all the sorts of deformations/distortions in the belly caused by such corrections using bassbar spring. If there's a sunken bass central arching (or raised at the treble side) beyond tolerance it's IMO in the long term more effective and conservative to correct it using a plaster cast before fitting a new bar.