J-G

If the violin looks like it could have been built by l'Humbert and then finished or refinished in 1934, it may be important that l'Humbert died in 1933. (Leaving who-knows-what unfinished or abandoned projects.) S. O. by the way is for Seine-et-Oise, the old department name dropped in 1968. St. Leu is now in the new Val-d'Oise department.

Can't help with the violin, but I'd love to see a full shot of that sculpture!

That's a pretty different look from the varnish on my Jackson (now long gone).

Sounds OK to me. Are you noticing a change since the rehair? Or since the new strings went on? If so, can you describe the difference for us?

A search here on MN under "abeille" (bee) yields 227 links to earlier discussions. Happy hunting!

Thank you for posting, Heatherlou! I'm still enjoying the Hildebrand violin I mentioned above. Examples of Hildebrand's work seem to be few and far between; I think two members of his family own violins he built, plus there's mine and now yours, but I haven't heard of any others. I posted some photos of mine in the American Violin Queries thread here in the Pegbox, and there's a bit of discussion there too. It'd be great to see photos of your violin if you can post a few, preferably in that thread. Thanks!

à l'aise means in comfort. But Christian's spelling alèse maybe points to a Greek noun alesis (like French thèse from Gk. thesis). My Liddell & Scott doesn't show that word (so no classical author used it), but the noun alesis would be derived from a verb aleo, which in fact means to grind. And my Larrousse étymologique shows Fr. aléser, meaning "façonner une surface", as an artillery term now used in the automobile world, where alésage means the diameter of a cylinder. Helpful?

The Gibson mandolin enthusiasts over on the Mandolin Cafe forum discuss this question endlessly, with no consensus emerging. Some love them, some hate them.

Are there any authentic labels with the spelling Guiseppe? Reminds me of the proscuitto I'm always being offered on menus.

The wood is called ipe. IPE stands for Inter-Planetary Express.

Yes indeed, lots to look at there! Thank you, Evan.

Wonderful! Fine music, excellent playing— vigorous, colourful. Thank you for posting.

This book? https://holfter.com/main_bigware_34.php?items_id=305

A fair question. Not "info" perhaps, but "grounds for suspicion": 1. The story itself, a very common kind of family folklore we've often seen here. The details seldom stand up to close examination. 2. The condition of the violin itself. It doesn't look like it was ever treasured by anyone, including your musician grandfather. Do you know if he ever strung it up and tried playing it? Or tried to get it identified, or appraised for insurance? I may be wrong of course. Others will have solider arguments once better photos are available.