I noticed an appraisal of a c. 1910 Larson Brothers harp mandolin on this episode of Antiques Roadshow from 2019. The discussion of the instrument begins around 35:00.
I noticed an appraisal of a c. 1910 Larson Brothers harp mandolin on this episode of Antiques Roadshow from 2019. The discussion of the instrument begins around 35:00.
I saw that last night. It was pretty cool. It got valued for more than I would have expected.
Jamie
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946
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More than I would have expected as well.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Cool mandolin, I wish they would have shown the rosewood back.
Charley
A bunch of stuff with four strings
.. [duplicate]
Antiques Roadshow has been known to be quite generous in their valuations of musical instruments.
These are indeed pretty rare, but not unheard of. At least a couple have come to my attention over the years-- perhaps at Intermountain Guitar and Banjo and/or Fred Oster's Vintage Instruments. They were priced quite a bit more modestly.
Aha-- I just looked at some sold listings on gbase.com. Intermountain sold a Larson-made Dyer harp mando a while back with pearl trimmed top, vine inlaid fingerboard, and vine inlaid pickguard at an asking price of $3950. Iirc, that was within the last 3 or 4 years.
The fancier Larson harp guitars are another story. A really clean upper-line model harp guitar might bring over $10,000.
Although these are certainly interesting instruments, I think I'd much rather play one of their standard cant-top mandolins without the "harp" feature.
Last edited by rcc56; Aug-30-2022 at 9:14pm.
ARS has used Philly's Fred Oster of Philadelphia Vintage Instruments before. His valuations always have seemed reasonable and his shop isn't just old Gibsons. I was especially surprised at the valuation given it's condition (scratched up by the strings and the soundboard cracks. Further, it wasn't built by Knutzson, rather was a licensed to Larson Bros and others of theirs (in better shape) sell for 1/3 of the $7K valued here.
Of course, I am not by any stretch an authority on the valuations of old mandolins and the Classifieds here don't see these rare hens teeth often either. I think the high value lies mostly in it's rarity rather than any acoustic value.
Jamie
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946
+ Give Blood, Save a Life +
One small detail...it's the mandola. One of the 5 known - see my article here: https://www.harpguitars.net/history/...-Miner-web.pdf
Fantastic article – thanks much.
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