No description available.

In this paper, the evocative nature of patina on stringed instruments is linked to the four agents of transformation that create it. These correspond to four nostalgic values: nostalgic reflection on the passage of time; nostalgia inspired by use; nostalgia for craftsmanship and pastoral nostalgia. Actors in the subfield of restricted cultural production of stringed instruments invoke one or more of these nostalgic values explicitly as a means to rationalize their actions to competing actors and to the broader public in their battle for status. Patina offers visible proof of their claims. Actors in the subfield of large-scale cultural production do not appeal to specific nostalgic values. Rather, they partake of the nostalgic aura surrounding antique instruments by "pasting" artificial patina onto their instruments. This serves to validate the idea of nostalgia. It also lays bare tensions existing in the broader field of cultural production over questions concerning the past and present.