purfling materials

The following statements are made in accordance with our Terms & Conditons and are intended to show basic features and indications of bowed ring instrument purfling inlay materials. The following statements are based on collected observations and should not be considered absolute or exhaustive. Guarneri.net does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracies however interpreted. Guarneri.net does not accept any liability for losses caused as result of using or interpreting the following statements.

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Purfling Inlay Material	Position used	Principle Schools / Makers	Appearance

Acacia	Inner strip	Rarely seen but used by the Guadagnini family of makers	Yellow/white/green ground with faint flecking
Beech	Inner strip	The Ruggieri family of Violin Makers in Cremona and the Neapolitan School including the Gagliano family.	Yellow ground with red-brown flecks
Boxwood	Inner strip	Used by the Early Schools of English Violin Making	Almost plain orange/yellow appearance.
Ebony	Outer strips	Used generally by makers since the early 19th century (although dyed woods are easier to work with)	Black
Ivory	-	Sometimes used as decorative inlay	White/yellow
Maple (Sycamore)	Inner strip	Jacob Stainer and the early Amati family instruments. Maple has been commonly used through out the history of Violin making as a material for making purfling.	Yellow/white ground with small black flecks
Paper	Outer strips	Neapolitan School instrument makers adopted paper as a purfling material after it was introduced by the second generation of the Gagliano family	Extremely thin dark line.
Pearwood/fruitwood	Outer Strips	Invariably stained prior to use, pearwood was used by the more important Italian schools. Pearwood is also seen as the materials for heads on some older Italian 'cellos	Dark pink/brown appearance but stains to deep black
Poplar	Inner strip	Later Amati family instruments and the makers of the 'Golden Age' of Italian Violin making including Antonio Stradivari and the Guarneri family and the Schools of Venice, Mantua, Rome, Milan. Poplar can also be seen occasionally for the backs and sides of 'cellos	White ground with moderate sized black flecks
Whalebone (in fact from the gum structure of a whale)	Outer strip	Earlier Dutch School, Gragnani family in Livorno, Italy	Deep Black, very shiny and durable
Willow	Inner strip	Rarely seen in older instruments but has been used a repair material by 19th/20th century restorers working on earlier instruments. Willow is seen more commonly for instrument linings and occasionally for the backs and sides of 'cellos	Almost grey appearance with fainter darker grey flecking