Neapolitan Mandolin
1785 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Vincenzo Vinaccia (active 1760-1785) came from one of the leading families of stringed-instrument makers in Naples, and this example, which is dated 1785, is one of the last known Vinaccia instruments. The somewhat crude decoration indicates a deterioration of quality in their workshop by that date. The Neapolitan mandolin was first developed during the 1750s. It is tuned like a violin, and played with a pick. The Neapolitan mandolin features in works by composers ranging from Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) to Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901).
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | planed and joined ribs of sycamore painted at the edges; planed and joined pine belly inlaid with tortoiseshell pick-guard and mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell soundhole border; ten planed ivory frets on the fingerboard inlaid with tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl, planed ebony frets on soundboard; turned boxwood tuning pegs. |
| Brief description | Neapolitan mandolin, sycamore ribs with tortoiseshell and mother of pearl decoration, Vincenzo Vinaccia, Naples, Italian, 1785. |
| Physical description | "Body of sycamore with intervening stringing simulated with black paint. Pine belly, bent at bridge-level and with tortoiseshell protector plate. The circular soundhole is surrounded with crude marquetry in mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell, and the same crude decoration appears on the fingerboard and the edging of the belly. The neck is decorated with bands of tortoiseshell on metal foil, and of ivory and ebony. There are ten ivory frets on the fingerboard and four of ebony on the belly. The flat figure-of-eight head has eight rear pegs of boxwood for four double courses.' Anthony Baines, Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), pp. 39-40. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Vincentius Vinaccio Fecit Neapolita/ I Sito Nella Calata dello Spitaletto A.D. 1785. (Printed label on the inside of the instrument. The last two digits of the date are written in ink.)
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| Object history | This instrument formed part of the collections of Carl Engel (1818-1882) and was purchased by this museum for £6 in 1882. |
| Summary | Vincenzo Vinaccia (active 1760-1785) came from one of the leading families of stringed-instrument makers in Naples, and this example, which is dated 1785, is one of the last known Vinaccia instruments. The somewhat crude decoration indicates a deterioration of quality in their workshop by that date. The Neapolitan mandolin was first developed during the 1750s. It is tuned like a violin, and played with a pick. The Neapolitan mandolin features in works by composers ranging from Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) to Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). |
| Bibliographic reference | Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), pp. 39-40. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 199-1882 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
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