What is Purwing? Thread inlay is a process of carving grooves on the inner edges of the violin panel and backboard, and then using black and white wooden strips, sticking them together to form a strip before "embedding" them into the grooves, forming a circular outline.

What is the function of thread inlay?

Thread inlay has a dual function of practicality and aesthetics. Wire inlay can reinforce potential weak points at the exposed edges of the panel and transfer moisture absorbed by the exposed wood grain ends to the central part of the top panel. The position where the edge is located has a thin surface, so the inlay also has the function of adhesion and binding, and avoids changes in weather and humidity, which can cause cracks when the violin shrinks and expands excessively.

The artistic quality of inlaying lines

When you appreciate the beauty of a violin's shape, I believe that the inlays are definitely one of the focal points that attracts your attention. Just like how painting cannot present the beauty of lines and concrete effects without outlining the outline, those double black lines establish the outline of the violin and give it a strong visual presentation.

The artistic style of inlaying is an important basis for identifying instrument series. Just like other parts of the qin, it is an important feature representing the style and characteristics of a certain school of qin making or individual qin makers. For example, the Stradivari has a slightly raised corner with the famous "bee sting" feature; The Amati family has demonstrated extraordinary consistency throughout four generations and over a hundred years of qin making.

The Importance and Complexity of Thread Embedding

In the history of violin, the materials and techniques for making inlays were roughly the same, but each violinist had their own style in the width of three wooden bars.

The materials used for inlaying vary greatly. Most classical Italian qin makers, especially those in Cremona, are accustomed to dyeing pearwood black and using poplar as the middle wooden strip, which they glue into strips before inlaying.

Other musicians, such as those in the town of Montagnana in Venice, only use three wooden bars and hammer them into the carved passages. Dutch qin makers often use whale bones because the black dye fades and the whale bones turn yellow, making them look beautiful like a spectrum.

To this day, many old pianos, even after hundreds of years of production, still have very rich and vibrant colors with inlaid threads, due to the meticulous dyeing methods used by qin makers.

Not only the style, but also the incredible and beautiful curves, and the perfect fusion of the oblique joints, must be accomplished by skilled qin makers.

Due to the fact that spruce wood panels have a greater chance of cracking than backboards, it is often seen that ancient classic Italian instruments (mostly cellos) have real inlays on the panels, but the backboards are only engraved with corresponding lines. Like the earliest apprentices of Nicola Amati, Francesco Rugeri (1628-1698) and Matteo Goffriller (1659-1742, Venetian luthier), they made excellent cellos,