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Mandolin
Maker: Albert Burton Shutt
Maker: Shutt Mandolin-Guitar Co.
Date: 1909-1911 ca.
Place Made:Topeka, Kansas, United States, North America
Serial No: none
Signednone
MarkingsStamped on upper edge of head, each number from an individual metal stamp, first and second three digits divided by indent of decorative head outline: 027 367
Partially effaced repair inscription written in black ink on inside of back, visible through bass f-hole: Alfred C Perdue / [effaced section] / 2/17/25
Written and scratched out in pencil above previous inscription: A C Perdi
Scratched on underside of tailpiece cover: A P
Partially effaced repair inscription written in black ink on inside of back, visible through bass f-hole: Alfred C Perdue / [effaced section] / 2/17/25
Written and scratched out in pencil above previous inscription: A C Perdi
Scratched on underside of tailpiece cover: A P
DescriptionMore than a decade before Gibson brought the F-5 to market, Shutt had incorporated both f-holes and longitudinal bracing on an arch-top mandolin. This example is based on his first patent and decorated with his fanciest trim.
Albert Burton Shutt (1877-1963) was born in Pennsylvania, but his family moved to a farm in Blue Hill, Kansas by 1880. In the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 Censuses, he is listed as a music teacher. Alfred Clinton Perdue (b. 1898), who repaired the mandolin and presumably owned it in 1925, was listed as a laborer in Humboldt, Kansas, in the 1920 Census. His father, Joseph, was a farmer.
NMM 13006 is based on Shutt’s 1910 Design Patent, D40,564. This is the only surviving example based on this design.
Stringing: eight steel strings
Soundboard: arched, one-piece, quarter-cut spruce or pine: wide grain; mother-of-pearl dots inlaid at center of scrolls at upper bouts
Back: one-piece, quarter-cut birch
Ribs: two-piece, semi-slab-cut birch; scrolls on upper bouts carved from solid pieces of birch
Head: mahogany; ebony veneer; inlaid abalone foliate decoration; bound in ivoroid; decorative cutout at upper end of head
Neck: mahogany; integral with head
Heel cap: none
Binding: ivoroid
Fretboard: black-stained dark brown tropical hardwood; 19 nickel-silver frets under D- and G-strings, 21 frets under A-string, 22 frets under E-string; single mother-of-pearl dot behind 3rd fret; mother-of-pearl lozenges with decorative, black-ink-filled engraving, behind 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th frets; single mother-of-pearl dot with decorative, black-ink-filled engraving behind 15th fret
Nut: bone
Bridge: black-painted dark tropical hardwood; compensated; later maple shim on underside
Tailpiece: nickel-plated stamped sheet brass with decoratively cut upper edge; secured to lower rib with one steel dome-headed screw and two flat-headed steel screws; foliate and floral engraving
Tuners: two pairs of nickel-silver-plated steel worm-gear tuners with enclosed mechanisms set into head, with foliate and floral engravings on nickel-silver covers, secured with five dome-headed steel screws per tuner unit; mother-of-pearl heads, two replaced with white-painted black plastic and one repaired
Endpin: ebony with abalone eye
Soundholes: two f-holes with strongly curved stems
Pick guard: none
Varnish: very dark red with slight craquelure on back, ribs and head, black on top with slight craquelure
Linings: kerfed birch
Neck block: dark brown hardwood; grain parallel to plane of top and back; extends across entire upper bouts
End block: spruce; grain runs parallel to plane of top and back; shallow, rounded edges
Top bracing: two maple braces between f-holes, fanned slightly from upper to lower bouts
Other: white cloth patch under bridge position, under braces
Albert Burton Shutt (1877-1963) was born in Pennsylvania, but his family moved to a farm in Blue Hill, Kansas by 1880. In the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 Censuses, he is listed as a music teacher. Alfred Clinton Perdue (b. 1898), who repaired the mandolin and presumably owned it in 1925, was listed as a laborer in Humboldt, Kansas, in the 1920 Census. His father, Joseph, was a farmer.
NMM 13006 is based on Shutt’s 1910 Design Patent, D40,564. This is the only surviving example based on this design.
Stringing: eight steel strings
Soundboard: arched, one-piece, quarter-cut spruce or pine: wide grain; mother-of-pearl dots inlaid at center of scrolls at upper bouts
Back: one-piece, quarter-cut birch
Ribs: two-piece, semi-slab-cut birch; scrolls on upper bouts carved from solid pieces of birch
Head: mahogany; ebony veneer; inlaid abalone foliate decoration; bound in ivoroid; decorative cutout at upper end of head
Neck: mahogany; integral with head
Heel cap: none
Binding: ivoroid
Fretboard: black-stained dark brown tropical hardwood; 19 nickel-silver frets under D- and G-strings, 21 frets under A-string, 22 frets under E-string; single mother-of-pearl dot behind 3rd fret; mother-of-pearl lozenges with decorative, black-ink-filled engraving, behind 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th frets; single mother-of-pearl dot with decorative, black-ink-filled engraving behind 15th fret
Nut: bone
Bridge: black-painted dark tropical hardwood; compensated; later maple shim on underside
Tailpiece: nickel-plated stamped sheet brass with decoratively cut upper edge; secured to lower rib with one steel dome-headed screw and two flat-headed steel screws; foliate and floral engraving
Tuners: two pairs of nickel-silver-plated steel worm-gear tuners with enclosed mechanisms set into head, with foliate and floral engravings on nickel-silver covers, secured with five dome-headed steel screws per tuner unit; mother-of-pearl heads, two replaced with white-painted black plastic and one repaired
Endpin: ebony with abalone eye
Soundholes: two f-holes with strongly curved stems
Pick guard: none
Varnish: very dark red with slight craquelure on back, ribs and head, black on top with slight craquelure
Linings: kerfed birch
Neck block: dark brown hardwood; grain parallel to plane of top and back; extends across entire upper bouts
End block: spruce; grain runs parallel to plane of top and back; shallow, rounded edges
Top bracing: two maple braces between f-holes, fanned slightly from upper to lower bouts
Other: white cloth patch under bridge position, under braces
DimensionsTotal mandolin length: 640 mm (25-3/16″)
Back length (from heel to end block): 322 mm (13-11/16″)
Upper bout width: 261 mm (12-21/32″)
Waist width: 222 mm (8-3/4″)
Lower bout width: 269 mm (10-19/32″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 33 mm (1-5/16″)
Rib height, at waist: 35 mm (1-3/8″)
Rib height, at endpin: 34 mm (1-11/32″)
Head length: 163 mm (6-13/32″)
Head width, top: 81 mm (3-3/16″)
Head width, bottom: 63 mm (2-15/16″)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 165 mm (6-1/2″)
Neck width, nut: 31 mm (1-7/32″)
Neck width, heel: 41 mm (1-5/8″)
Soundhole height: 102 mm (4″)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): E: 344 mm (13-17/32″); G: 345 mm (13-9/16″)
Back length (from heel to end block): 322 mm (13-11/16″)
Upper bout width: 261 mm (12-21/32″)
Waist width: 222 mm (8-3/4″)
Lower bout width: 269 mm (10-19/32″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 33 mm (1-5/16″)
Rib height, at waist: 35 mm (1-3/8″)
Rib height, at endpin: 34 mm (1-11/32″)
Head length: 163 mm (6-13/32″)
Head width, top: 81 mm (3-3/16″)
Head width, bottom: 63 mm (2-15/16″)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 165 mm (6-1/2″)
Neck width, nut: 31 mm (1-7/32″)
Neck width, heel: 41 mm (1-5/8″)
Soundhole height: 102 mm (4″)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): E: 344 mm (13-17/32″); G: 345 mm (13-9/16″)
Terms
Credit Line: Gift of Curtis Teague, 2007
Not on view
Published Referenceshttps://www.harpguitars.net/history/shutt/shutt.htm
Object number: 13006