Neapolitan mandolin
Maker
Lyon & Healy
Maker
American Conservatory
(trade name of Lyon & Healy)
Date1899 -1903 ca.
Place MadeChicago, Illinois, United States, North America
ModelAmerican Conservatory Style 601
Serial No.106699
SignedBranded onto sticker inside bowl: AMERICAN / CONSERVATORYMarkingsStamped into tailpiece: PAT.MCH.10.91
Stamped onto brace above soundhole: 106699
Piece of masking tape behind second fret had text written on it in green ink; now illegible
DescriptionSoundboard: two-piece spruce: fine grain
Bowl: 11 rosewood staves, nine inner ribs narrower, divided by maple or holly stringing
Clasp: rosewood
Head: Spanish cedar; veneered with rosewood on front face
Neck: Spanish cedar; integral with head
Binding: ivoroid; trim comprised of five-ply green-stained hardwood/light hardwood/ebony/light hardwood/green-stained hardwood inlay stripe
Fingerboard: rosewood; 17 nickel-silver bar frets; mother-of-pearl single dots inlaid behind 5th, 7th, and 12th frets
Nut: ebony
Bridge: missing
Tuners: two sets of worm-gear machine tuners with brass plates, brass rollers, and ivory-plastic heads
Tailpiece: nickel-plated brass; seashell-shaped
Rosette: elliptical; trim comprised of red-stained hardwood stripe inlay bound on either side by five-ply alternating ebony/light hardwood stripe inlays
Pick guard: imitation tortoiseshell celluloid with decorative vine ivoroid inlay
Lacquer: slightly yellowed with craquelure
Bowl lining: light-brown mesh cloth
Blocks: Spanish cedar neck [integral with neck] and end blocks
Top braces: spruce brace with tapered ends above soundhole; triangular spruce braces below soundhole and at widest point of soundboard
Linings: kerfed spruce
DimensionsTotal mandolin length: 611 mm (24-1/16”)
Top length: 308 mm (12-1/8”)
Maximum body width: 201 mm (7-29/32”)
Maximum bowl height: 141 mm (5-9/16”)
Head length: 155 mm (6-3/32”)
Head width, top: 65.2 mm (2-9/16”)
Head width, bottom: 47 mm (1-27/32”)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 146 mm (5-3/4”)
Neck width, nut: 29.6 mm (1-5/32”)
Neck width, heel: 38.7 mm (1-17/32”)
Soundhole height: 34 mm (1-11/32”)
Soundhole width: 58.8 mm (2-5/16”)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): 328 mm (12-29/32”) [approx. – estimated from line on soundboard indicating previous position of bridge]
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Object number03865
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