Consentino 12 String- Very Ornate

[NickR]

Sadly, there is damage, too. The label with the name of Consentino of Valetta in Malta may well be a dealer not the maker. I fear the damage is far worse than is suggested.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/31452216262...Bk9SR5Lxg4_wYQ

[Richard500]

The same one appears in a post 11 years ago, and others labelled Consentino are equally lush. I like the one with the peacock - the flower and fan (?) isn’t as successful IMHO.
Hard to tell, but I think this one is folding up, which is serious enough given the risk of touching that neck. Blowouts around the top edges might be less of a problem. Seems to have only a mess of a tailpiece, and no real bridge, indicating that this one has been in indifferent hands for a while.
It may be beyond resuscitation, but what a specimen!

[NickR]

It sold for a whopping £820 which surprised me but maybe there is more to this mandolin than I know. I wonder if someone got carried away?

[Jim Garber]

I fear more the over the top ornateness of this maker's work. BTW his name is P. Cosentino. And I found a reference to his first name being Pietro.

For some reason there is another of his masterpieces from yet another UK seller. This mandolin has 16 strings!! And the condition rivals the 12 string for an even higher starting bid: https://www.ebay.com.my/itm/285165779233

[NickR]

The triumph of hope over experience. Malta was a British colony and big naval base, so I wonder if they were bought there and taken to Britain by naval officers who indulged in the mandolin. I just wonder if the buyer of the £820 version might not change his mind if its structure is not as good as suggested. Of course, it may be fine- but then I am an optimist.

[brunello97]

The triumph of hope over experience. Malta was a British colony and big naval base, so I wonder if they were bought there and taken to Britain by naval officers who indulged in the mandolin. I just wonder if the buyer of the £820 version might not change his mind if its structure is not as good as suggested. Of course, it may be fine- but then I am an optimist.

Not much of a sail from Catania to Valletta.

Malta has a looooong history before it was taken over by the British folks. Being located where they are, there were a lot of folks 'colonizing' their homeland a number of whom the locals were able to rid themselves of.

No shade on the RN or possible mandolinophilia of any sailors irrespective of their rank. The Consentino excess might have just been more bling to catch the eye of a naval trinket hunter with a sailor's paycheck.

"Yours only has 8 strings! Ha!"

It does rank-le a bit when the term "colony" gets tossed around like it was just an ordinary turn of events for folks.

I've recently had a Maltese student who was more than happy to give me an earful.

And rightfully so.

Sorry history, the colonial ages.

Mick

[NickR]

Dom Mintoff the Maltese leader actually wanted Malta to become fully integrated into the UK in the 1950s but this did not happen- even though the vast majority of the population wanted it. The British Government was prepared to allow this development but for various reasons, it never happened. As a kid in a big naval town I had schoolfriends who had lived there or had a Maltese parent- there were very close connections and I have a friend who lives there now.