Neapolitan mandolin.
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InstrumentNeapolitan mandolin |
Instrument FamilyStrings |
MakerGiuseppe Vinaccia |
Place MadeItaly ; Southern Europe ; Naples ; Europe |
Date Made1893 |
DescriptionTechnical description: Soundboard of spruce, joined in the centre but not bookmatched. Bridge of rosewood with a bone saddle. Length of the main part of the bridge 74.5mm, total length of bridge 124mm and width 6.5mm. The soundboard bends back at the bridge. Oval shaped soundhole 66.5mm wide and 43.5mm deep. Purfling around the soundhole consists of a rosewood edging band, then strips of maple/walnut/maple, then a black mastic with an inlaid mother-of-pearl elongated "f" design, and then alternate strips of maple and walnut (two of each). There is a tortoiseshell scratchplate. The purfling around the edge of the soundboard consists of a rosewood edging then alternate thin strips of walnut and maple (two of each) then four thin strips of walnut and maple. There is a small engraved metal soundboard protector at the bottom of the instrument. There are four ivory buttons which hold the strings at the bottom. There are 23 rosewood ribs with maple spacers in between. The outside ribs are much wider than the others. There is a large rosewood capping piece at the bottom, edged in olivewood. The olivewood continues up to the neck to give extra gluing area for the soundboard. The neck and head are veneered in rosewood. There is a mother-of-pearl applied shield shaped button at the bottom of the head. The machine heads are brass with ivory buttons. There is a pierced design near the top of the head. The nut is ivory. The fingerboard is rosewood with metal bar frets. The neck is 143mm long, 29.5mm wide at the nut, and 36.5mm wide at the body join. The fingerboard is glued onto the soundboard and is 214mm long at the centre. There are 17 frets. There are inlaid mother-of-pearl position markers at frets 5, 7, 10 and 12 in the shape of an oblong star. Overall size: 588mm. Body length: 302mm. Body width, maximum: 197mm. Body depth: 146mm. String length: 333mm. |
NotesA. Macaulay, December 1991; D.P. Martin, 2003. |
Measurements588. |
Provenanceon loan to the Collection. |
CollectionMIMEd |
Accession Number1292 |