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Mandolin (style A2)
Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Company (American)
1919
Object Place: Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
Medium/Technique
Birch, spruce, ebony, plastic
Dimensions
Length 65 cm, width 25.7 cm (Length 25 9/16 in., width 10 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Carl F. Zahn in memory of his father, Fred J. Zahn
Accession Number1982.801
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionOne-piece arched back and ribs of birch. Arched belly of wide-grain spruce. Back, belly, fingerboard, and soundhole bound with white plastic. Soundhole encircled with purfling in herringbone pattern. Neck and headstock of mahogany; face of headstock ebonized. Tuning machines of steel with knobs of white plastic. Fingerboard of ebony with fret markers of pearl dots and twenty frets of nickel silver. Nut of ivory. Bridge of walnut (?). String holder of nickel silver. Pickguard of plastic in tortoiseshell pattern. End button of ebony. Eight strings in four pairs. Dark brown varnish. Internal construction: One lateral brace on belly. Original hardshell case.
InscriptionsInlaid on headstock: The/ Gibson;
printed label: … Gibson MANDOLIN Style A2 / Number [handwritten: 51056] is hereby / GUARANTEED …/ GIBSON MANDOLIN-GUITAR CO. / (Manufacturers) / Kalamazoo, Mich. U.S.A.; On tailpiece: The/ Gibson
On pickguard: PAT MAR 30 '09
printed label: … Gibson MANDOLIN Style A2 / Number [handwritten: 51056] is hereby / GUARANTEED …/ GIBSON MANDOLIN-GUITAR CO. / (Manufacturers) / Kalamazoo, Mich. U.S.A.; On tailpiece: The/ Gibson
On pickguard: PAT MAR 30 '09
ProvenanceBefore 1982, Fred J. Zahn; by 1982, by descent to his son, Carl F. Zahn, Boston, Massachusetts; 1982, gift of Zahn to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 12, 1982)