Mandoline-banjo
ALTERNATE NAME(S)
- 5-string banjo
Distributor
Henry August Pollmann
(distributor)
Date1888-1900 ca.
Place DistributedNew York, New York, United States, North America
ModelRoyal
Serial No.none
SignedCircular ivoroid inlay on peghead face with black text stamp: AUGUST POLLMANN’S / [TRADE] [laurel, crown with ROYAL underneath, laurel] [MARK] / [natural horn] / MANDOLINE BANJO. / [PAT. MAY 3, 1887.] [THO’S JAY GLEASON N.Y.]MarkingsBranded into rectangular piece of wood on inside of back: PAT.MAY 3RD 1887
Stamped into tailpiece: WM.GERKE / __.__ / PROV.R.I. / PAT’D JAN.31.1888.
DescriptionAntonio Bini of Brooklyn applied for a patent for the mandoline-banjo in 1886, assigning it to August Pollmann. The invention was awarded U.S. Patent number 362,417 in 1887. As Bini stated, “The object of my invention is to provide a mandolin which is so constructed that a great number of tones can be produced, and the same played either in the same manner as a banjo or as a mandolin, combining thereby the advantages of both instruments in one.” Bini was the son of the first Italian luthier in New York, Joseph Bini, who immigrated in the 1840s and played guitar at P. T. Barnum’s American Museum. Antonio Bini was listed as a musical instrument or guitar maker in all census and directory listings from the 1870s through 1910, so it is likely that he was the manufacturer for these instruments on behalf of Pollmann, but they were sold only with Pollmann’s name.
Neck: mahogany or Spanish cedar
Peghead: mahogany or Spanish cedar, integral with neck
Fingerboard: rosewood; 18 nickel-silver T-frets; single-dot mother-of-pearl inlays behind 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th frets
Heel cap: top point of back extends upward and functions as heel cap
Top: spruce; two-ply light and dark hardwood strips inlaid around outer edge
Ribs: two-piece rosewood
Back: two-piece rosewood
Pickguard: none
Rosette: two sets of two-ply light and dark hardwood strips with space in between, set in from edge
Bridge: ebony with nickel-silver saddle [fret-wire]
Linings: kerfed Spanish cedar or mahogany
Neck block: mahogany or Spanish cedar; integral with neck
End block: dark-stained hardwood
Top braces: three spruce parallel braces with tapered ends, one above soundhole
Back braces: three spruce parallel braces with tapered ends, one above soundhole
Top nut: bone
5th-string nut: bone
Tuners: four nickel-plated brass tension tuners with ivory-plastic heads in peghead; 5th-string tuner is ebony peg in neck
Tailpiece: nickel-plated brass
Endpin: ebony
Finish: tan lacquer with craquelure
DimensionsTotal instrument length: 841 mm (33-1/8”)
Total vibrating string length: 609 mm (23-31/32”)
Vibrating length of 5th string: 462 mm (18-3/16”)
Total fingerboard length: 407 mm (16-1/32”)
Fingerboard length from 5th string nut: 259 mm (10-3/16”)
Fingerboard width at top nut: 32 mm (1-1/4”)
Fingerboard width at 5th-string nut: 44 mm (1-23/32”)
Fingerboard width at body: 50 mm (1-31/32”)
Maximum back width: 263 mm (10-11/32”)
Body depth at fingerboard: 61 mm (2-13/32”)
Body depth at base: 68 mm (2-11/16”)
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Published ReferencesJoseph R. Johnson. “The Mandolin Orchestra in America,” The Big Red Book of American Lutherie Vol. II, 1988-1900, pp. 262, 272-273.
Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Object number02958
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