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Mando-cello
Alternate name:Mandocello
Alternate name:Mandolin
Maker: Gibson
Date: 1924
Place Made:Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States, North America
Model: K-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
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.
Terms
Credit Line: Board of Trustees, 1997
Not on view
Published References“Recent Acquisitions,” America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 25, No. 2
(February 1998), pp. 6-7.
(February 1998), pp. 6-7.
Object number: 06086