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Neapolitan mandolin

Maker John Brandt

Trade Name Tomaso Mandolins (trade name of William Lewis & Son)

Distributor William Lewis & Son

Date1898 ca.

Place MadeChicago, Illinois, United States, North America

ModelTomaso Style A

Serial No.218

SignedPaper label on inside of instrument, in black text: “TOMASO MANDOLINS” / MADE BY / JOHN BRANDT / FOR / WILLIAM LEWIS / STYLE A___ 218 CHICAGO.
Markingsnone
DescriptionSoundboard: twopiece spruce: wide grain
Bowl: 21 bird’seye maple staves, 19 inner nine ribs narrower, divided by ebony stringing
Clasp: bird’seye maple; festooned lower end
Head: Spanish cedar or mahogany, front face veneered with rosewood
Neck: Spanish cedar or mahogany; integral with head
Binding: rosewood; trim comprised of fourply alternating maple/ebony stripe
Fingerboard: ebony; 18 nickelsilver bar frets [9th fret missing]; singledot motherof-pearl inlays behind 5th, 7th, and 10th frets
Nut: bone
Bridge: missing
Tuners: two sets of wormgear machine tuners with nickelplated brass covers, nickel-plated brass rollers, and ivoroid heads
Tailpiece: nickelplated brass
Rosette: elliptical; rosewood binding; trim comprised of sevenply alternating ebony/maple stripe
Pick guard: imitation tortoiseshell celluloid
Lacquer: slightly yellowed
Bowl lining: lightbrown paper
Blocks: neck block covered with paper bowl lining; bottom block covered with brown mesh cloth
Top braces: spruce brace with tapered ends above soundhole; spruce brace with tapered ends below soundhole
Linings: spruce
DimensionsTotal mandolin length: 606 mm (237/8”)
Top length: 311 mm (121/4”)
Maximum body width: 194 mm (75/8”)
Maximum bowl height: 155 mm (63/32”)
Head length: 146 mm (53/4”)
Head width, top: 67 mm (25/8”)
Head width, bottom: 51 mm (2”)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 143 mm (55/8”)
Neck width, nut: 27 mm (11/16”)
Neck width, heel: 38 mm (11/2”)
Soundhole height: 46 mm (113/16”)
Soundhole width: 71 mm (213/16”)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): 325 mm (1213/16”) [approx. – estimated from mark on soundboard indicating where bridge would have been]
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.

Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979

Object number03853

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