Neapolitan mandolin
Date1900-1925 ca.
Place MadeJersey City, New Jersey, United States, North America
Place MadeNew York, New York, United States
Serial No.none
SignednoneDescriptionHeadstocks of this type appear in the 1897 Hamilton Gordon catalog, the 1906 Oliver Ditson catalog, 1910 Wurlitzer catalog. The tailpiece appears on instruments in the 1906 Oliver Ditson catalog. The interior lining configuration is that found on Oscar Schmidt 12-string mandolins.
Soundboard: two-piece spruce: fine grain
Bowl: nine alternating bird’s-eye maple/rosewood staves, seven inner ribs narrower, divided by maple or holly stringing
Clasp: rosewood; festooned lower end
Head: mahogany or Spanish cedar
Neck: mahogany or Spanish cedar; integral with head
Binding: light hardwood; trim comprised of three-ply dark-brown-stained hardwood/light hardwood/dark-brown-stained hardwood stripe
Fingerboard: rosewood or brown-stained maple; 17 nickel-silver bar frets; mother-of-pearl single dots inlaid behind 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th frets
Nut: ebony
Bridge: ebony with bone saddle
Tuners: two sets of worm-gear machine tuners with black celluloid heads; bass tuners have a brass plate with decoratively-cut ends and nickel-plated steel rollers; treble tuners have a plain rectangular steel plate and nickel-plated brass rollers
Tailpiece: nickel-plated brass
Rosette: elliptical; trim comprised of seven-ply alternating dark-brown-stained hardwood/light hardwood stripe
Pick guard: imitation tortoiseshell celluloid
Lacquer: slightly yellowed with craquelure
Bowl lining: two strips of dark-brown mesh cloth running perpendicular to strings in top half of bowl; bottom half of bowl covered in dark-brown mesh cloth
Blocks: neck block covered with light-brown paper; no end block present
Top braces: spruce brace with tapered ends above soundhole; spruce brace with tapered ends below soundhole and at widest point of soundboard
Linings: mahogany or Spanish cedar
DimensionsTotal mandolin length: 617 mm (24-9/32”)
Top length: 322 mm (12-11/16”)
Maximum body width: 202 mm (7-15/16”)
Maximum bowl height: 150 mm (5-29/32”)
Head length: 142.6 mm (5-5/8”)
Head width, top: 67.9 mm (2-21/32”)
Head width, bottom: 55.7 mm (2-3/16”)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 147 mm (5-25/32”)
Neck width, nut: 31.9 mm (1-1/4”)
Neck width, heel: 37.7 mm (1-15/32”)
Soundhole height: 42.1 mm (1-21/32”)
Soundhole width: 67.6 mm (2-21/32”)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): 335 mm (13-3/16”)
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Object number03860
On View
Not on view
1900-1925 ca.
