Mandolin
Maker
Gibson
Date1904 ca.
Place MadeKalamazoo, Michigan, United States, North America
ModelF3
Serial No.3617
SignedPlain paper label outlined with black ring, printed with letters: Gibson Mand[olin] Ltd. / No. 3617 (stamped) [lyre with bust facing forward] / TRADE MARK (inside lyre) Febr[uar]y first / 1898 / Kala[mazoo] [M]ichigan, U. S. A.MarkingsAbalone shell inlay on the peghead: The Gibson
Engraved in tailpiece: The Gibson
DescriptionThe scrolled upper rib and three "points" of the body outline make the early Style F mandolins one of Gibson's most distinctive products. Sold through Gibson teacher-dealers, these instruments fed the fire of demand for mandolins in the early twentieth century. In order to be in one of the fashionable "Gibson-ite" orchestras, a player had to purchase an instrument from a Gibson agent, whose exclusive territory ensured a local monopoly. Often such dealers formed and led the mandolin orchestras that further publicized the Gibson instruments and their teaching services. The formula was extremely successful, and Gibson catalogs of the 1910s and '20s are filled with images of Gibson orchestras and testimonials of professionals who played Gibson instruments. As William Reyelt, soloist and Gibson agent, wrote of the Style F mandolins in the 1912 catalog, "I find that the 'Gibson' is very often its own best advertisement, as it surely 'speaks for itself' in glowing terms. And that together with the splendid talking points gets the prospect every time."
DimensionsHeight: 710 mm (28 in)
Upper bout width: 190 mm (7.5 in)
Lower bout width: 273 mm (10.75 in)
Diameter of soundhole top to bottom: 40.3 mm (1.6 in)
Diameter of soundhole side to side: 62 mm (2.4 in)
Vibrating string length: 361 mm (14.25 in)
ProvenancePurchased from Gruhn Guitars, Nashville, Tennessee, 2001.
Published References“Recent Acquisitions,” National Music Museum Newsletter 29, No. 2 (May 2002), pp. 6-8.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 2001
Object number10052
On View
Not on view
