Need help estimating quality of violin

[Zari]

I am currently looking at a violin for sale but don't really know if what I'm looking at is worth buying as I don't have experience in this sort of thing. 
I don't know if I'm looking at junk or something that is okay enough for an intermediate player to use.  Price is about $100 usd.

Some things I've noticed about it is that it doesn't have any purfling which in my mind is a red flag and the flare on the back is kind of diagonal. I'm certainly more used to seeing horizontal tiger stripes. The edge of the violin is also quite raised in a way I haven't seen before. 

This is the link to the listing where you are able to see pictures. 

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=2417701699

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Rue]

Well - I  vote "no".

It's been stripped. It needs to be refinished.  That's the least of it. Then it would need some major set-up and likely significant repairs.

After all that time and effort, you will have no idea what it sounds like. Could be a dud.

An intermediate player needs a violin that you KNOW is responsive enough to take them were they need to go.  This likely isn't it - even after putting in another $1000 in repairs, on top of the $100 you spent on it.

 

[violinsRus]

Not sure it's been stripped, rather looks to me like that was the original sparse finish.  Looks like it was made by a self-taught maker, autodidact violin.  I would skip it.

 

[vathek]

I notice that it's listed under 'home decor'

[vathek]

Also a Joseph Gutteridge on wikipedia listed as a silk weaver at an appropriate date in Coventry:

Joseph Gutteridge (23 March 1816 - 4 November 1899) was an English silk weaver and naturalist.^[1]

Gutteridge became an atheist after attending debates at the Coventry Mutual Improvement Society, and became an Owenite socialist.^[1] After participating in the strike of 1860-61 in the aftermath of the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty, he acquired "firm Liberal views".^[1] Despite being ruined by the Treaty, he was "dogmatically committed to free trade as the poor man's best hope".^[2]

In 1893 his autobiography Lights and Shadows in the Life of an Artisan was published, which was drawn from his diary. It "remains an impressive source for the history of the silk industry, working-class life, and urban development during the industrial revolution".^[1]William Ewart Gladstone received a copy and it gained favourable reviews. Gutteridge received a gift from the Royal Bounty Fund and an annuity from friends.^[1]

[J-G]

Wow, talk about provenance! 

What is that wood on the back?