Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop.
Do you want a "full body suit"...not on you, but for your violin or fiddle? We have not figured out fiddle body piercing yet, but we are working on it. Read on...
The decoration of musical instruments has been done for hundreds of years. Such decoration has included inlay work of various types, painting, etching, carving, application of gold leaf and "rosing", the Norwegian nickname for "rosemaling", which is the tattoo-like inkwork one sees on Hardanger Fiddles.
Some Historic and Recent Examples
Giovanni Paolo Maggini (c. 1580 - c. 1630), while making violins without special decoration, is best best known for his later instruments that two rows of purfling on the top and back. Many of Maggini's instruments are ornamented on the back with decorations such as Saint Andrew's Cross, clover leaves, crests and other motifs. His most famous decorations are designs accomplished by extending the inner of the two purfling rows onto the backs of the instruments to form various designs, as illustrated.
You can see more Maggini designs, as well as other historic and recent decorated violins and fiddles in our photo gallery: Historic and New Rosed and Inlaid Instruments
Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 1737) is not generally known for elaborate violin decoration. He did, however, produce a number of instruments with complex and beautiful decorations. Many of Strad's decorations look like inkwork, but they are, in fact, inlays. The photo of a quartet of inlaid instruments shows some of Stradivari's best inlay decoration, for which he charged huge sums of money, according to lore.
You can see designs by Stradivari, as well as other historic and recent decorated violins and fiddles in our photo gallery: Historic and New Rosed and Inlaid Instruments
The Hardanger Fiddle, or "hardingfele" in Norwegian, originated in the mid-1600s in a region of western Norway traditionally known as Hardanger. Unlike regular fiddles or violins, Hardanger fiddles have 4 primary strings that are played, with 4, to as many as 8, sympathetic drone strings that run under its hollow fingerboard. For hundreds of years, Hardanger Fiddles have been elaborately decorated with black ink patterns, generally floral in nature, called "rosing", which is short for "rosemaling", the Norwegian word for decorative painting. While actually constructed differently from violins, the Hardanger Fiddle has looks much like a tatooed conventional fiddle with a really long peg box and a lot more tuning pegs.
You can see additional Hardanger Fiddle photos in our photo gallery: Old Hardanger Fiddle with Elaborate Rosing (Inkwork)
Southern Mountain Fiddles: In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, there were many fiddle makers working in the Southeastern mountains (e.g. Southern part of the Appallachians) of the U.S. These "mountain luthiers" pretty much dissappeared (as well as fiddle playing, at least in public) when the prevaling regional religious belief (now revised, mostly) held that it was sinful to play the fiddle.
During their prime, these Southern Mountain luthiers made instruments loosly based on the Maggini pattern. The decoration is often "over-the-top", incorporating dyes, inkwork and almost always crude mother-of-pearl inlay work. The photo illustrates what appears to be a nicely-done example of one of these rare old instruments.
Note: We see a number of these century-old fiddles at fiddlers' conventions. Typically, a man in his 80s will want to sell his father's fiddle to us. The sellers themselves do not play, as they grew up during the "fiddling is a sin" era. Very few of these extremely ornate fiddles are in decent playing condition, as they have often been hidden for many decades in attics; thus, subjected to poor environmental conditions.
You can see this Southern Mountain fiddle, as well as other historic and recent decorated violins and fiddles in our photo gallery: Historic and New Rosed and Inlaid Instruments
Recent Fiddles with Inkwork: The extremely creative violin luthier, Tim Phillips, is based in the small mountain town of Mochdre (properly pronounced Mock druh but ofen pronounced Mock dree locally) in the county of Powys, Wales, UK. Phllips' extremely innovative violins gererally are shaped quite differtly from standard violins and fiddles. Tim has supplied some of the greatest fiddlers in the world with instrments. At least on some of his instruments, including a fiddle played by the Irish musician, Sharon Shannon, whimsical inkwork is employed in its design. This cool inkwork can be seen in the photos of Sharon Shannon's fiddle.
You can see additional images of Tim Phillips' violin inkwork, as well as other historic and recent decorated violins and fiddles in our photo gallery: Historic and New Rosed and Inlaid Instruments
Don Rickert Lutherie:
See a variety of fiddle, violin and pochette inkwork possibilities for our instruments in these photo galleries:
We have produced custom instruments for several years with combinations of inkwork, etching and inlay (see Cigar Box Fiddle Authentic 1860s Style Special Edition and Whiskey Box Pocket Fiddle by Don Rickert Design). We are now expanding our capacity to do simple or elaborate inkwork on several instruments made by Don Rickert Lutherie. The product listing at the Adventurous Muse Stores is Tattooing, Inkwork, Rosing. The instruments are:
- Customizable Fiddle, Don Rickert Lutherie
- Custom-Made Fiddle with Celtic Setup Don Rickert Lutherie
- Glasgow Pochette
- Neil Gow Pochette
- Adventurer IId Travel Violin
- Mountaineer II Backpacker Fiddle
- Neil Gow 21C2 Travel Violin
- Flat-Top Flatiron-Style Mandolin by Don Rickert Design
In all cases, these are instruments for which we do the varnishing, as inkwork is done on sealed bare wood BEFORE the varnish is applied.
The price for our "rosed" instruments varies according to the following factors:
- The complexity and size of the design
- The method by which the inkwork is applied: On relatively flat surfaces, such as a pochette, travel violin or the ribs (sides) of a Rickert Customizable Fiddle, a process called dry ink transfer can be used. On surfaces with complex curves, such as the top or back of a Rickert Customizable Fiddle, the inkwork must be done by hand by a skilled pen-and-ink or tatoo artist...this is almost exactly like the process a tatoo artist must use when tattooing a person (except with pens rather than an electric tattoo needle).
- Original Custom Design vs. an Existing Design: There literally thousands of existing tatoo stencils (called "flash"), which can be modified to "tattoo" an instrument. A completely original design is certainly possible, but involves extra effort and, thus, additional cost.
You can expect to pay about as much for instrument inkwork as you would for getting yourself tattooed.
Bottom Line
We are able to apply just about any design imaginable to your instrument. The varnish is applied OVER the design, making it about as permanent as a tattoo on a person. We DO reserve the right to reject offensive images. After all, it is our name on the label inside the instrument.
Needless to say, once one of our instruments with custom inkwork is NOT returnable. That being said, we bend over backwards and give you a "Photoshop" visualization of what your instrument will look like after tatooing. We proceed when you sign-off on the visualizations and agree on the price.
Now, that is a lot more than you get before getting your body tatooed!
Comments