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.MarkingsStamped into back brace visible through soundhole: PAT.MAY 3RD 1887
Stamped into tailpiece: PAT’D JAN.31.1888. / WM.GERKE / __.__ / PROV.R.I.
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: Spanish cedar or mahogany; 5th-string tuner
Peghead: Spanish cedar or mahogany with rosewood veneer; integral with neck
Fingerboard: ebony; 22 nickel-silver T-frets; decorative mother-of-pearl inlays behind 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th frets; decorative abalone inlay behind 15th fret
Heel cap: top point of back extends upward and functions as heel cap
Head: spruce with maple binding; black purfling around outer edge and around sound hole; rosewood pick guard with decorative floral inlay in maple; ebony bridge
Top: two piece spruce: medium grain; maple binding with alternating light and dark hardwood block trim, surrounded on each side by purfling
Ribs: two-piece rosewood
Back: two-piece rosewood back with center strip comprised of alternating angled maple/rosewood surrounded on each side by maple and green-stained maple strips
Pickguard: rosewood with decoratively burned foliate maple inlay
Rosette: alternating light and dark hardwood block trim, surrounded on each side by purfling set in from edge; edge bound in ivoroid with purfling trim
Linings: kerfed Spanish cedar or mahogany
Neck block: integral with neck
End block: light hardwood with Spanish cedar or mahogany center graft
Top braces: four spruce parallel braces with tapered ends, one above soundhole; angled spruce grafts on each side of soundhole
Back braces: three spruce parallel braces with tapered ends; Spanish cedar or mahogany graft
Top nut: ivory
5th-string nut: bone
Tuners: 5 nickel-plated brass tension tuners with ivoroid heads
Tailpiece: nickel-silver
Finish: orange lacquer
DimensionsTotal instrument length: 868 mm (34-5/32”)
Total vibrating string length: 603 mm (23-3/4”)
Vibrating length of 5th string: 451 mm (17-3/4”)
Total fingerboard length: 444 mm (17-15/32”)
Fingerboard length from 5th string: 298 mm (11-23/32”)
Fingerboard width at top nut: 35 mm (1-3/8”)
Fingerboard width at 5th-string nut: 44 mm (1-23/32”)
Fingerboard width at body: 51 mm (2”)
Maximum back width: 260 mm (10-1/4”)
Body depth at fingerboard: 71 mm (2-13/16”)
Body depth at base: 94 mm (3-11/16”)
Fingerboard width at body joint 5.0 cm 1 31/32 inches
Body depth at neck 6.9 cm 2 23/32 inches
Body depth at bottom 9.4 cm 3 23/32 inches
Published ReferencesShrine to Music Museum Newsletter, Vol. XVI, No. 1 (October 1988), p. 3.
Newsletter of the American Musical Instrument Society, Vol. XVIII, No. 1 (February 1989), p. 10.
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Scribner Canning, in memory of his mother & father, Claire Hawthorne and James Scribner Canning, 1988
Object number04377
On View
Not on view
