12-string guitar
Maker
Raphael Ciani workshop
Date1923 ca.
Place MadeNew York, New York, United States, North America
Model12 string
Serial No.none
SignedPrinted on paper label with decorative border: A. GALIANO / RAPHAEL [Masonic compass] CIANI / FABBRICANTE DI / MANDOLINI / E CHITARRE / GARENTITEMarkingsPencil marks on linings marking brace positions
Pencil marks on neck and ends blocks and back graft marking positionsDescriptionStringing: 12 steel stringsSoundboard: 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″)
ProvenancePurchased from Lowell Levinger, Inverness, California, 2008.
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.
Credit LineTony and Bonnie Vinatieri Family Trust, 2008
Object number13562
On View
Not on view
