paulamphelan - more than possible. There was quite a fashion for decorating fiddles - marquetry medieval castles etc. This was the same idea, but a bit more sophisticated sounding. Fancy binding and double purfling were also used, not to mention a variety of scrolls carved as heads of people, animals or nightmares (possibly supposed to be lions.) They don't indicated a 'better' instrument, merely a prettier one, as today you can get fiddles in various colours. 1908 is not 'very old' in fiddle terms, in fact it's modern. Yes, entirely possible it was bought from Poland by your grandfather.