Does anybody know about this mandolin?

[trevor]

I am posting this for a friend, she would like to know something about it.

[Martin Jonas]

Probably German, probably 1930s although much the same designs were made into the 1960s and even 70s, fairly low-grade. There are some elements that are untypical: the bridge and tailpiece look more Italian than German, as does the absence of a zero fret. So, it may just be low-level Italian rather than low-level German, but there was a certain element of cross influences.

Martin

[brunello97]

Martin, I'm going to go with Italian, with a bet on Sicilian to be more specific. The headstock shape, tuners, neck splice, rw fingerboard, 'Sienese' binding and ovoid, beveled fb end all seem very Cantanese to me. The one-piece flat back is not uncommon either. No doubt you are right, Lkw-Ladungen von diesen probably went north and cross pollinated with the Markneukirchen folks. My hunch is that some of these Sicilian mandolins might even have been 'finished' in other shops, just as Sicilian grapes mysteriously found their way into all kinds of Chiantis, etc. over the years.

Mick