I think there is a very important picture available on this site which is included below.  I figure that the violin is in balance with an assist from the shoulder.  Note how far left the violin is.  The chin rest appears even further left.

"Shoulder" is usually a dirty word in holding a violin.  People say that the "shrug" is surely the wrong posture for securing a violin BUT, NOT if most of that space is mostly negated by a very tall chin rest.

Balance requires a fulcrum or pivot point.  What is available from the center of the neck going left?  The collar bone?  That is a very tricky ledge even if I have seen people play that way.  I consider this Fiddlerman picture to be much more aggressive and "bullet proof".

I'm not suggesting that the violin lays on the forearm or bicep.  Those positions are mostly the region of fiddlers.  I am saying that some chin rests PREVENT going left and that is why the center mount was introduced.  The center mount however forced everything higher which may not have been welcome.