"Moreno" Mandolinetto 1930s UK

[NickR]

I am posting this rather wonderful looking instrument up as it may appeal to British mandolin fans. It is for sale at the Gardiner Houlgate auction on the 11th March. I have seen other Moreno branded instruments from the 1930s- it was obviously a brand of a British dealer and they have been Saxon guitars and mandolins but I have never seen this model before. It may be all laminates. You can see other Moreno branded instruments on Google- "Moreno Saxony" should bring up a few.

[Ray(T)]

Link to the on-line auction - https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/a...d-ae4500f44311

Nor quite sure which day the mandolins go on sale - there are 4 catalogues - https://auctions.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk

[NickR]

Ray, thank you for adding that extra info. I don't know if now all the restrictions have been lifted -if viewing is available and bidding in person is possible although I am not going to bid.

[Ray(T)]

Their website says that viewing is available and condition reports are available for those who can’t. This firm does seem to specialise in guitar auctions (with a scattering of mandolins). They have them every couple or three months with several hundred instruments at a time. If they weren’t at the opposite end of the country, I might even be tempted to go along!

[NickR]

It might be good to go to one of those auctions but Corsham is also a bit of a gallop for me. I have an old schoolfriend who works for Airbus there- he may have now retired so I suppose I could go and see him as well. If there were plenty of instruments to view it would make it worth while- trusting not to buy any!

[Ray(T)]

Their current “guitar” auction lists some 940 lots over 2 days and, whilst mostly guitars, includes all sorts of bits and pieces and it looks like the mandolins run into the third day. It makes me wonder where they’re getting them all from.

[NickR]

Yes, quite a collection of things, all right! It took time to work my way through. It's a shame that FDH Special archtop has been refinished and mucked about but that probably won't stop it going for more than the estimate. I suppose it could be that now normality is beginning there is a backlog of things that were held back for the last two years! Auctions are dangerous places, you never know if you might get bitten by the bug on the day!

[Ray(T)]

I doubt it’s anything to do with normality returning as they’ve been having these large auctions for some years. So far, I’ve gone no further than perusing the on-line “dogalogues”.

[Ray(T)]

It made £100 + Commission.