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Trade Secrets: Making a decorative fleur-de-lys

2024-04-08T08:05:00

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Luthier Evan Davenport illustrates a method to add a striking decoration to the back of a Baroque instrument

When designing a fleur-de-lys decoration, the first step is always to decide on a design that works for you and best fits the instrument you are working on. For the double bass shown in this article, I based the pattern on the fleur-de-lys of the c.1609 Gasparo da Salò viola housed in the National Music Museum in Vermillion, SD, US. Having settled on that pattern, I extrapolated the rough placement of the decorations from those of the c.1580 Gasparo da Salò double bass (as featured on one of The Strad ’s posters)…

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