Puglisi Reale Mandriola 1900s 12 String ?

[Zither-Dither]

<Removed by Moderator>

Hi Mandolin Cafe,

Hopefully the community here can shine some light upon this unusual 12 string mandolin. I have some Zither harps however am bound by limited knowledge and reference resources.

I have a page up however expecting to keep the instrument. The price is uncertain however i do not want to over or under value the mandola and have difficulty identifying the instrument or finding records of the same model being sold online in the past.





So any information about the instrument or general advice is good.


<Removed by Moderator>

[Zither-Dither]

Description

Puglisi Reale Mandriola 12 String Mandolin Fully Restored

This attractive domed back 12 stringed mandolin was made in Catania by the master craftsman Puglisi Reale in the early 1900s.

Whilst many 12 stringers have suffered from string tension and a bowed neck this model continues to have an absolutely straight neck with a flat and level ebony fingerboard and with fretting barely marked. It also enjoys a low action of 2.5mm at fret 12 for playing easily.

The tuners have been cleaned and polished and hold the strings securely. The tuner buttons are bone.

The soundboard is close grained, book-matched spruce with a dramatic scratchplate depicting a lady departing from a sailingboat. Equally stunning is the ebonised sleeveguard surrounding the lower part of the table.

Both the sides and back are in rosewood but the back also has alternating rosewood and maple centre stripes.

The mandolin has been newly strung with GHS ultra-light strings and given the generous width of the fingerboard it plays as easily as an 8 stringer but with full volume and striking tone.

Bonhams fine musical instruments auctions nearest valuation:
A MANDOLIN BY G. PUGLISI-REALE & FIGLI, CATANIA, CIRCA 1900
£ 800 - 1,200
US$ 950 - 1,400

The 12 string mandola is a more rare instrument from than the one appraised (see picture) which shares the characteristics of the highly collectable and sought after pieces from the Italian masters of string instrument building.

G Puglisi, Reale & Figli were active makers of fine violins (mainly), bows, strings, guitars, mandolins and unique cellos. Unfortunately the factory was destroyed during WWII by bombardment in 1943. Although it was rebuilt and some noted instruments were built after this time, many of the original Puglisi family subsequently migrated from Sicily to USA, Canada and Australia.


Brand: G Puglisi, Reale & Figli
Series: Unknowen?
Handedness: Unknowen?
Type: Acoustic Mandola?
Body Type: Wooden: Rosewood & Maple, Mother of Pearl Inlay,
Performance Level: Unknowen?
Body Color: Multicolor
String Configuration: 12 String (Four Groups of three Strings
Model: Unknowen?
Number of Frets: 17?

[NickR]

The tuners look to be German from the 1930s and that could also mean they were used after WW2, so the mandolin might be post-war.

[Jim Garber]

Zither-Dither: If you are selling this instrument rules here are you need to place an ad in the classified section not in the regular forums. If it does sell through the ad 2% of the selling price should be donated to Mandolin Cafe.

[Zither-Dither]

Zither-Dither: If you are selling this instrument rules here are you need to place an ad in the classified section not in the regular forums. If it does sell through the ad 2% of the selling price should be donated to Mandolin Cafe.

Hiya there are more pictures on the gumtree page however unwilling to sell until appraisal process confirms a middle ground price.

The instrument is identified online yet not currently available since yet to be recorded with producer friends.

What you see online regarding this instrument is one of 3 - 4 examples found while trying to identify this instrument.

However i will list it here with projected availability if i can work out its value in a way that does justice to the instrument and it's counterparts.


Should you have some knowledge regarding this instruments model and defining characteristics this would be useful content for those with interest in the field and it's knowledge base.

Advice about various ways to tune a 12 string (4 x 3 strings) would be good however sometimes the instrument will tell you better than musical doctrines.

[Zither-Dither]

Big question is this instrument actually a mandolin?

Description

Puglisi Reale 12 String Mandolin? Fully Restored

This attractive domed back 12 stringed mandolin was made in Catania by the master craftsman Puglisi Reale in the early 1900s.

Whilst many 12 stringers have suffered from string tension and a bowed neck this model continues to have an absolutely straight neck with a flat and level ebony fingerboard and with fretting barely marked. It also enjoys a low action of 2.5mm at fret 12 for playing easily.

The tuners have been cleaned and polished and hold the strings securely. The tuner buttons are bone.

The soundboard is close grained, book-matched spruce with a dramatic scratchplate depicting a lady departing from a sailingboat. Equally stunning is the ebonised sleeveguard surrounding the lower part of the table.

Both the sides and back are in rosewood but the back also has alternating rosewood and maple centre stripes.

The mandolin has been newly strung with GHS ultra-light strings and given the generous width of the fingerboard it plays as easily as an 8 stringer but with full volume and striking tone.

Bonhams fine musical instruments auctions nearest valuation:
A MANDOLIN BY G. PUGLISI-REALE & FIGLI, CATANIA, CIRCA 1900
£ 800 - 1,200
US$ 950 - 1,400

The 12 string mandola is a more rare instrument from than the one appraised (see picture) which shares the characteristics of the highly collectable and sought after pieces from the Italian masters of string instrument building.

G Puglisi, Reale & Figli were active makers of fine violins (mainly), bows, strings, guitars, mandolins and unique cellos. Unfortunately the factory was destroyed during WWII by bombardment in 1943. Although it was rebuilt and some noted instruments were built after this time, many of the original Puglisi family subsequently migrated from Sicily to USA, Canada and Australia.


Brand: G Puglisi, Reale & Figli
Series: Unknowen?
Handedness: Unknowen?
Type: Acoustic Mandola?
Body Type: Wooden: Rosewood & Maple, Mother of Pearl Inlay,
Performance Level: Unknowen?
Body Color: Multicolor
String Configuration: 12 String (Four Groups of three Strings
Model: Unknowen?
Number of Frets: 17?

[Zither-Dither]

It seems that the Puglisi Reale distributed into Germany from Italy before their factory was apparently bombed during VWWII.

Did G. PUGLISI-REALE & FIGLI not label their instruments G. PUGLISI-REALE & FIGLI & SONS after 1920 or some time therabouts?

I will try and have put a better picture of the inside label at some point ...



Difficult to tell it seems they even occasionally produced some instruments that emulated other instrument builders of their peer group.

Perhaps the musical tuning would be different before 1930s (any clues about pre-thirties tuning would be nice)

[Zither-Dither]

So the pointers suggest this is:

AN INSTRUMENT BY G. PUGLISI-REALE & FIGLI, CATANIA, CIRCA 1900

To know the model / variant / identifiers would be good and probably in Italian.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm just going to close this thread until the site owner makes a decision. This looks like an ad and that violates the posting guidelines. If he feels it isn't he will open it back up. We limit commerce to the classifieds.

[Zither-Dither]

Although restored the age of the instrument can still be seen in the rose wood & the maple