I'm really in the dark about this violin and I'm sure whatever one says about it will be like putting one's head on the block, ready for the chop.

Firstly, I recently dealt with a violin with a similar seal - just adequately "worn" not to be able to read it. Likewise the label was just adequately illegible to be tantalizing. It had a lot of repairs and cracks etc and heavy blackening and even a neck graft. It was presented for sale as an excellent old violin with awesome tone. After a lot of work I found all the signs of careful faking - the "cracks", when viewed from the edge, didn't go through the wood and was drawn on. One or two cracks were genuine, with cleated repairs, but one could see how the crack was carefully produced with a knife. Etc. The violin was a very convincing fake of around 1900 and when all of this was pointed out, the owner was really upset.

I'm not saying that this is the case with your violin. But much about this violin doesn't convince me of its apparent age - e.g. the lack of rebushing on the pegs and a general "studied" aspect to the cracks and repairs. The blackening is also quite suspect, particularly on the back where it appears to be where one would not normally find it in an old violin. The huge insert in the centre of the top though would not be the result of faking and would appear genuine.

The truth is it would be very difficult to say anything about the violin for a certainty. I would suggest you take a VERY strong magnifyer and carefully follow trace the line of every crack, and particularly the way the crack appears at the edge. A true crack goes through the wood. Also, real cracks usually follow the grain quite carefully and very seldom crosses it. Also, real cracks may or may not break the purfling. If the purfling is intact, it means the prufling at that point was replaced - look for evidence of purfling being cut in. If not, it means the crack was made before the purfling was traced - a sure sign of faking.

This might sound extreme, but some utterly convincing fakes were made by a German company in the early 20th century - complete with stunning cracks, repairs, blackening, neck grafts, shorter necks and fingerboards, etc.

I've shown a fabulous old violin, with all the right bells and whistles to a top Cremonese authority. (I won't mention names) He completely trashed it as a German fake, which truly upset me. But after he carefully pointed out the fine tricks as signs involved, I know he was right. Interestingly, when showed the same violin to the Vatelot studio in Paris, it was immediately identified as a German fake.  So, fortunately there are some real authorities out there who know what to look for.

Anyway, the above is by the way, and I'm not implying anything about this violin. The truth it I don't know what it is. It would really have to be seen physically by an expert.

Regards, JDM