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Thread: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

  1. #26
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    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    There's a long entry on Mannello in "American Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art"
    By Laurence Libin, which is viewable on Google books. (Hope this link works.) http://books.google.com/books?id=aUm...sician&f=false
    It includes a photo of the man himself:
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    as well as photos of his work.

    It has lots of interesting biographical info as well, noting that before 1900, he had a shop at several different addresses in Manhattan's Little Italy, including this address on Spring Street:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    (apologies if any of this has been referenced already here or elsewhere, but if it has been I didn't see it.)

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  3. #27
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    I have handled both the mandolins in the Metropolitan Museum tho I don't recall either of them set up to actually play. I also believe that Mannello possibly had them made by other luthiers in his employ in his shop. I will check my Met Museum musical instrument book. He also might have built some of these simpler models for other distributors as well which might explain why there are not many around.
    I must have been sleeping when I wrote that!! I certainly did not mean that those two masterpieces were made by others. I meant that the simpler models were built by workers in his employ. Laurence Libin's book, American Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, says that by 1903 Mannello had up to 75 employees in the Eagle Avenue factory and they were turning our scores of mandolins, guitars and banjos, many of which went to C. Bruno & Sons. He sold his handmade custom instruments to top musicians and celebrities of the time.
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  4. #28

    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

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    Here's another Mannello on Ebay:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ange...item43c518233f

    I am curious about the newsprint under the pickguard (which went missing).
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    Last edited by peterk; Jan-31-2014 at 9:45am.

  5. #29
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    That newsprint is a little strange, Peter. I wonder if the tortoise shell or plastic disintegrated and the pearl inlay fell out at some point and someone glued the pearl to that newspaper. I believe that often these elaborate inlays were supplied as sets to luthiers by pearl shops. I believe, for example, that Louis Handel was one such shop but there were prob a few others. I would think it pretty odd, tho to have a tortoise or imitation pickguard over newsprint that could possibly be read thru the shell. Emberghers BTW often had gold leaf under the shell to add to the reflection.
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  7. #30

    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    Well, the pickguard plate might have been ebony or opaque celluloid, and not any transparent material, then the newsprint backing wouldn't have mattered.
    Perhaps the paper was supposed to be peeled off before the pickguard gluing onto the instrument, yet some apprentice neglected to do that ?

    Regarding the use of paper in the construction of those mandolins, I still can not get over the practice of lining the bowl with paper. I'd assume they would have gotten a more solid bowl by using a stronger kind of cloth/linen. When I was re-lining the bowl of one of my old Italian mandolins, the old paper was flaking off with hardly any scraping.

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  9. #31
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    I believe that the paper was there so the glued ribs would separate easily from the form. Some mandolins -- certainly the Emberghers -- used wood shavings instead of paper. I wonder tho if there is a type of paper that does not disintegrate when it gets old -- like maybe there is something put into the paper-making process that causes it to get yellow and disintegrate. I have also seen at least one American bowlback with what looked like thin metal foil lining the inside.
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  11. #32
    Registered User Russ Donahue's Avatar
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    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    This thread is an example of what is so amazing about the Cafe. Where else could one get such a history lesson over the space of a day?

    My thanks to all the contributors!
    Make America Grateful Again!

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  13. #33
    Registered User PiccoloPrincipe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    Indeed.

    Yes, many thanks for taking the time.
    It is genuinely appreciated.

    In fact, that Mannello I noticed as well (without the pick guard).

    I have to laugh.
    Browsing around here, I see we all tend to share VERY similar qualities.

    You are all so online savvy, experienced, knowledgeable, and genuine connoisseurs onto the nuances of treasure hunting online..etc.

    ..don't know whether to consider you kind friends or mortal enemies!! (Laugh)

    Kind regards.


    Quote Originally Posted by Russ Donahue View Post
    This thread is an example of what is so amazing about the Cafe. Where else could one get such a history lesson over the space of a day?

    My thanks to all the contributors!

    Awesome.
    Thank you very much for this.
    Look forward to checking out the book.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Norton View Post
    There's a long entry on Mannello in "American Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art"
    By Laurence Libin, which is viewable on Google books. (Hope this link works.) http://books.google.com/books?id=aUm...sician&f=false
    It includes a photo of the man himself:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Mannello.PNG 
Views:	598 
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ID:	113526
    as well as photos of his work.

    It has lots of interesting biographical info as well, noting that before 1900, he had a shop at several different addresses in Manhattan's Little Italy, including this address on Spring Street:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	18 spring st.jpg 
Views:	206 
Size:	39.3 KB 
ID:	113529
    (apologies if any of this has been referenced already here or elsewhere, but if it has been I didn't see it.)
    Last edited by PiccoloPrincipe; Feb-01-2014 at 5:17pm.

  14. #34

    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    I have nearly the exact same mandolin. It was my Mothers Grandfather's and was one of a matched pair. I have never been able to discover what happened to the second one. I've had to repair it over the years with a new fret and sound board and it still sounds great. Attached is a picture of it on my lap 64 years ago. I did not rediscover it until 1970 when I found it in my Mothers attic. I have been playing it ever since.



    https://youtu.be/LfqhEHTRCU8

    (there is likely a more correct way to add this youtube link but you can cut and paste)


    Keep 'em Flying,
    Mike
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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  16. #35

    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    This is my first time posting. I've read through a few of the posts regarding Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolins which encouraged me to upload some pics of a mandolin I recently (re)discovered in our crawl space of an attic. I'm not sure if the images I tried to attach are actually visible. There are no markings/labels inside the mandolin so I can't be sure this one isn't a knockoff of a better quality instrument.

    There is an unmatched gear screw holding one of the tuning knobs; the tailpiece which is pulling away on the bottom has no markings; much of the inlay along the edge is missing; the pick guard isn't flush with the top all the way along its edges; there's an inlay in the fretboard that is depressed; but with new strings and corrections to the tailpiece it is playable. There are 19 ribs on the bowl. As for the rest of the mfg quality I am clueless. I'm not a mandolin player yet.

    If you can offer any insight as to the possible mfg of this I'd much appreciate it.

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    The Mugwumps Index of American Fretted Musical Instrument Makers lists Angelo Mannello as building in NYCity 1886-1906. The index gives no other information, but that narrows the period down somewhat. Another website lists Mannello's lifespan as 1858-1922. A PDF reprint of a 1903 Music Trade Review gives an ad for Mannello's shop at 676-680 Eagle Avenue in New York.

    There's a Mannello mandolin displayed here with the identical pickguard and binding, but without the mother-of-pearl fretboard. Slightly different headstock. I'd agree with your assessment that yours is probably one of his higher-end instruments. How many ribs or staves in the bowl-back? And is it rosewood? Rosewood and more ribs are generally also indicators of an upscale instrument.

    The Mannello at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is an extreme example of a "presentation grade" instrument, almost totally encrusted with mother-of-pearl, and probably designed for display rather than actual use. According to the caption, it was donated to MMA by the Mannello family in 1972.

    Google searching yields quite a few hits on Mannello mandolins, when you consider they were apparently made 110-130 years ago, so we can deduce that he was quite a prolific luthier; the fact that his shop took up three addresses on Eagle Avenue also suggests it may have been fairly large-scale. I wouldn't necessarily use the term "mass production," as the shop might have had a half-dozen or dozen craftspersons building instruments by hand, but apparently a well-known member of the contingent of Italian builders in New York, who turned out many bowl-backs around the turn of the 20th century.
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  18. #36
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Angelo Mannello Bowl Back Mandolin

    1. Your pics are visible.

    2. The mandolin looks US-made to me; I'm sorta going by the "batwing" pickguard with the butterfly inlay, and the scalloped tailpiece. I'm sure there are other bowl-back experts out there that can give a more educated appraisal.

    3. I'm not sure that this should be attributed Angelo Mannello, although the pickguard shape and inlay are similar to one of the Mannello-labeled instruments shown above. Pickguards and inlays were often purchased from suppliers who sold them generally, so you could get similar ones on instruments from a variety of makers.
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