Mando-cello
Alternate name(s)
- Mandolin
- Mandocello
Maker
Gibson
Date1924
Place MadeKalamazoo, Michigan, United States, North America
ModelK-4
Serial No.76996
SignedText in double-lined black printed oval border, white paper label, with black ink: Patented Feb. 1, ’98 / Patented March 30, ’06 / Other patents Pending / Gibson MANDO-CELLO Style K-4 / Number 76996 is hereby / GUARANTEED / against faulty workmanship or material. Should / this instrument, with proper care and usage, go wrong, / we agree to repair it free of charge at our factory, or / to replace it with another of same style or value. / GIBSON MANDOLIN-GUITAR CO. / (Manufacturers) / Kalamazoo, Mich., U.S.A.MarkingsIn mother-of-pearl on peg head: The Gibson / [single “flowerpot” inlay]
Stamped onto tailpiece: The Gibson
Decorative stamp above signature at upper end of tailpiece
Stamped on neck block, inside instrument: 11106
Inside on Virzi tone producer: (stamped) “VIRZI” Tone Producer / U.S. and Foreign
Pats.
Virzi label inside, on left: [trade mark] MARCA / “VIRZI” Tone No. 10132 / U.S. and Foreign Pats. / New York
Pick-guard is stamped: PAT MAR. 30. ‘09
On metal clamp which secures guard over pick guard: PAT. JULY 4, 1911
DescriptionThe Style K-4 was introduced in 1912 to match the styling of Gibson's scroll bodied Style F-4 mandolin and Style H-4 mandola. In the 1917 Gibson catalog, this "Baritone Voice of the Mandolin Choir" sold for $221.63, more than double the price of the K-2 at $88.65.
DimensionsOverall length (without end button): 975 mm
ProvenancePreviously owned by Neal Penner (1909-2006), a former Gibson representative, Enid, Oklahoma. In 1980, Denner sold this instrument, along with 32 others, to Pete Wagener, Savage, Minnesota. Purchased from Wagener, 1997.
Published References“Recent Acquisitions,” America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 25, No. 2
(February 1998), pp. 6-7.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 1997
Object number06086
On View
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