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12-string guitar
Maker: Raphael Ciani workshop
Date: 1923 ca.
Place Made:New York, New York, United States, North America
Model: 12 string
Serial No: none
SignedPrinted on paper label with decorative border: A. GALIANO / RAPHAEL [Masonic compass] CIANI / FABBRICANTE DI / MANDOLINI / E CHITARRE / GARENTITE
MarkingsPencil marks on linings marking brace positions
Pencil marks on neck and ends blocks and back graft marking positions
Pencil marks on neck and ends blocks and back graft marking positions
DescriptionStringing: 12 steel strings
Soundboard: two-piece spruce, wide grain
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple; narrow, horizontal curl
Ribs: two-piece, quarter-cut maple; faint, narrow curl
Head and neck: two-piece maple; irregular wide curl; center strip comprised of rosewood surrounded on each side by two-ply plain maple-black-dyed maple strips; veneered on face with brown-stained maple bound in white celluloid; inlaid with mother-of-pearl foliate ornament of same design found on D’Angelico archtops ca. 1932-1933; mother-of-pearl floral ornament at bottom of headstock continues design onto fingerboard
Heel cap: white ivoroid; three ply black-stained maple and plain maple purfling on inside edge; set in from back
Binding: ebony; light hardwood, dyed pink, brown red, and black hardwood angled and checkerboard trim on top only
Fingerboard: ebony half-bound with white celluloid; 19 heavy-gauge nickel-silver frets; floral and foliate mother-of-pearl and abalone ornaments behind 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th, and 15th frets
Nut: bone
Bridge: ebony with moustache shape; angled bone saddle; white celluloid bridge pins with abalone eyes; filled holes on each side of bridge pins and below bridge pins covering screws and nuts, visible on inside; ends of bridge terminate in ebony bridge pin heads with abalone eyes glued to top
Tuners: two pairs of nickel-plated steel worm-gear machine tuners with ivoroid heads and decoratively cut plate outlines with impressed floral design
Endpin: bone with abalone eye; countersunk
Rosette: two layers of light hardwood, dyed pink, brown red, and black hardwood angled and checkerboard trim with white celluloid binding on inside edge of soundhole
Pick guard: decoratively cut, inlaid imitation tortoise shell celluloid with abalone floral inlay
Lacquer: later clear
Linings: kerfed maple
Neck block: medium-brown hardwood; grain runs parallel to plane of top and back; rounded corners
End block: mahogany; chamfered corners; maple graft at center, perpendicular to top and back
Top braces: four maple top braces with tapered ends; maple bridge plate
Back braces: mahogany back graft; four maple back braces with tapered ends
Soundboard: two-piece spruce, wide grain
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut maple; narrow, horizontal curl
Ribs: two-piece, quarter-cut maple; faint, narrow curl
Head and neck: two-piece maple; irregular wide curl; center strip comprised of rosewood surrounded on each side by two-ply plain maple-black-dyed maple strips; veneered on face with brown-stained maple bound in white celluloid; inlaid with mother-of-pearl foliate ornament of same design found on D’Angelico archtops ca. 1932-1933; mother-of-pearl floral ornament at bottom of headstock continues design onto fingerboard
Heel cap: white ivoroid; three ply black-stained maple and plain maple purfling on inside edge; set in from back
Binding: ebony; light hardwood, dyed pink, brown red, and black hardwood angled and checkerboard trim on top only
Fingerboard: ebony half-bound with white celluloid; 19 heavy-gauge nickel-silver frets; floral and foliate mother-of-pearl and abalone ornaments behind 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th, and 15th frets
Nut: bone
Bridge: ebony with moustache shape; angled bone saddle; white celluloid bridge pins with abalone eyes; filled holes on each side of bridge pins and below bridge pins covering screws and nuts, visible on inside; ends of bridge terminate in ebony bridge pin heads with abalone eyes glued to top
Tuners: two pairs of nickel-plated steel worm-gear machine tuners with ivoroid heads and decoratively cut plate outlines with impressed floral design
Endpin: bone with abalone eye; countersunk
Rosette: two layers of light hardwood, dyed pink, brown red, and black hardwood angled and checkerboard trim with white celluloid binding on inside edge of soundhole
Pick guard: decoratively cut, inlaid imitation tortoise shell celluloid with abalone floral inlay
Lacquer: later clear
Linings: kerfed maple
Neck block: medium-brown hardwood; grain runs parallel to plane of top and back; rounded corners
End block: mahogany; chamfered corners; maple graft at center, perpendicular to top and back
Top braces: four maple top braces with tapered ends; maple bridge plate
Back braces: mahogany back graft; four maple back braces with tapered ends
DimensionsTotal guitar length: 1063 mm (41-21/32″)
Back length: 519 mm (20-7/16″)
Upper bout width: 270 mm (10-5/8″)
Waist width: 227 mm (8-15/16″)
Lower bout width: 380 mm (14-31/32″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 97 mm (3-13/16″)
Rib height, at waist: 105 mm (4-1/8″)
Rib height, at end block: 108 mm (4-1/4″)
Head length: 209 mm (8-7/32″)
Head width, top: 73 mm (2-7/8″)
Head width, bottom: 55 mm (2-5/32″)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 331 mm (13″)
Neck width, nut: 49 mm (1-15/16″)
Neck width, heel: 64 mm (2-5/16″)
Soundhole diameter: 98 mm (3-7/8″)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): high E: 662 mm (26-1/16″); low E: 665 mm (26-3/16″)
Back length: 519 mm (20-7/16″)
Upper bout width: 270 mm (10-5/8″)
Waist width: 227 mm (8-15/16″)
Lower bout width: 380 mm (14-31/32″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 97 mm (3-13/16″)
Rib height, at waist: 105 mm (4-1/8″)
Rib height, at end block: 108 mm (4-1/4″)
Head length: 209 mm (8-7/32″)
Head width, top: 73 mm (2-7/8″)
Head width, bottom: 55 mm (2-5/32″)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 331 mm (13″)
Neck width, nut: 49 mm (1-15/16″)
Neck width, heel: 64 mm (2-5/16″)
Soundhole diameter: 98 mm (3-7/8″)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): high E: 662 mm (26-1/16″); low E: 665 mm (26-3/16″)
ProvenancePurchased from Lowell Levinger, Inverness, California, 2008.
Terms
Credit Line: Tony and Bonnie Vinatieri Family Trust, 2008
Not on view
Published ReferencesPaul Schmidt and Arian Sheets. The Masters' Bench (Vermillion, South Dakota: National Music Museum, 2016)
Jayson Kerr Dobney. “Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 68, No. 3 (Winter 2011), fig. 35, p. 21, in the catalog.
Jayson Kerr Dobney. “Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 68, No. 3 (Winter 2011), fig. 35, p. 21, in the catalog.
Object number: 13562