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musical instrument details
vintage mandolin - A. Galiano bowl back Very rare and old Made in Italy 1890's!
Estimated price for orientation: 750 $
Category: Mandolins
Class:
Description Country/Region of Manufacture: Italy
I found this in an antique shop in Nashville, TN over 20 years ago. It didnt have a bridge or strings when I bought & I didnt know a thing about mandolins.....just thought it was cool lookin and that it would look good with my Dad's old banjo up on the mantle (see pics). I had a mandolin enthusiast/player/collector look at it recently and he was very surprised at the condition once we found out about how old it was. He offered to bring it back to playing condition for me if I could find a bridge for it. I did, bought new set of strings, my friend strung it up and carved the bridge. He' tuned it, played a couple tunes, we relaxed the strings, and put it back on the mantle. It sounded pretty good to me. The original label is inside ........says A. Galiano Mandolini - fabricante de Chittarre Garaniti. Now, you probably know that Galiano mandolins were license built in New York City between 1910 and 1920. However, I'm quite certain that this one was from earlier.........built in Italy between 1890 and 1900.The neck to body is rock solid, the fret board is straight and not pitted. The geared tuners are tight and in good working order. All the original inlay, while not overly ornate, is still all intact! The only way to positively get and I.D. on this thing is to match that head stock inlay..........the crescent moon and star is a logo.........I havent been able to find another one like it. Inlay on top appears to be tortiose shell. The tail piece is original but the cover is not...........it was missing, so my friend hand frabicated one for me. As you can see from the pics, the bowl back is in wonderful condition but there is some minor separation on the top (see pic). I've seen pics of some of the old NYC built models from around 1910 - 1920. Most of them are in very poor condition with warped necks and pitted fret boards, or missing inlay pieces. It has no case but I will be sure to over-do the wrapping & packing & will insure the shipping.
Description
| Country/Region of Manufacture: | Italy |
I found this in an antique shop in Nashville, TN over 20 years ago. It didnt have a bridge or strings when I bought & I didnt know a thing about mandolins.....just thought it was cool lookin and that it would look good with my Dad's old banjo up on the mantle (see pics). I had a mandolin enthusiast/player/collector look at it recently and he was very surprised at the condition once we found out about how old it was. He offered to bring it back to playing condition for me if I could find a bridge for it. I did, bought new set of strings, my friend strung it up and carved the bridge. He' tuned it, played a couple tunes, we relaxed the strings, and put it back on the mantle. It sounded pretty good to me. The original label is inside ........says A. Galiano Mandolini - fabricante de Chittarre Garaniti. Now, you probably know that Galiano mandolins were license built in New York City between 1910 and 1920. However, I'm quite certain that this one was from earlier.........built in Italy between 1890 and 1900.The neck to body is rock solid, the fret board is straight and not pitted. The geared tuners are tight and in good working order. All the original inlay, while not overly ornate, is still all intact! The only way to positively get and I.D. on this thing is to match that head stock inlay..........the crescent moon and star is a logo.........I havent been able to find another one like it. Inlay on top appears to be tortiose shell. The tail piece is original but the cover is not...........it was missing, so my friend hand frabicated one for me. As you can see from the pics, the bowl back is in wonderful condition but there is some minor separation on the top (see pic). I've seen pics of some of the old NYC built models from around 1910 - 1920. Most of them are in very poor condition with warped necks and pitted fret boards, or missing inlay pieces. It has no case but I will be sure to over-do the wrapping & packing & will insure the shipping.