Calace nicola e raffaele

[ronla]

Today my mother gave me her old mandolin. She used it only for a year. It was a present from her Uncle bought in Italy around 1950. Inside is stated "Comm. Raffaele Calace & Figlio, Napoli (Italia), and the signature of Raffaele Calace.
I have enclosed some pictures of the mandolin, and will be glad if anyone can help me with the identification and value. I have enclosed a few photos to make it a bit easier (I'm not shure they passed through, I'am registred as a member today, that might be the reason why a security token is missing). There are some scratches and the upper neck seem to have been broken and repaird. There is also a small "dent" on one side but no penetrations. I live in Norway and do not have any mandolin specialists in the vincinity. I am looking for somone that can repair this kind of damages.
I play guitar, but it might be interesting to explore the mandolin also. Maybe this present can give me kick to start.
Best regards!
Ronla

[ronla]

Inside the mandolin is stated "Anno 1948".

[Martin Jonas]

The photos didn't make it through, unfortunately. It is possible that the file size is larger than the allowed maximum -- try scaling them down and attaching them again.

Calace is one of the "Big Three" names in Italian bowlbacks (Embergher and Vinaccia being the others), so this will be a good quality instrument. Yours, being made in 1948, is not from the shop's prime period. Raffaele Calace died in 1934 and although his descendants have continued the shop, by and large with the same model range, ever since, the reputation of the post-war instruments isn't quite as good as those made during Raffaele's lifetime. Nevertheless, if structurally sound and playable, this will be a very good instrument to explore the world of classical mandolin playing -- give it a try, you won't regret it!

Value depends on condition and on the precise model, obviously. As a rough ballbark figure, I'd figure something between 750 and 1000 Euro for a mid-range 1948 Calace in reasonable condition. If that neck repair you mention was structural, then the value would be half or less -- neck repairs are serious matters on mandolins and people are reluctant to take a chance on instruments with visible repairs in that area.

Martin