I was looking closely at my mother's old violin today, and realized that something I'd always considered to be damage on the top actually looks like writing, perhaps by some method of engraving or stamp. It just looks too "regular" to be simply damage. I'm attaching a picture and wonder if anyone out there has seen similar. I cannot make out what it says.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154811576642662&set=a.447674227661.227685.626802661&type=3&theater