Bizarro mandolins of note

**Richard Walz** · Jun-18-2009, 2:14am

I think Neil should have this instrument, it would go well as a fringe example of 'art-deco' mandolin design :

http://cgi.ebay.fr/rare-et-original-...3A1%7C294%3A50

For the time being, the price is right...

**Neil Gladd** · Jun-18-2009, 6:17am

I think not. Feel free to bid, yourself.

**Richard Walz** · Jun-18-2009, 7:27am

Ok, it doesn't have curves and you can't call it a bowl back, but it does have points of interest... sorry, I might just bid on it, might double as a canoe paddle or a cricket bat. Who knows what's in that red box?

**brunello97** · Jun-18-2009, 7:38am

Yes, I am pretty certain that is an actual diamond inlaid into the back. The seller probably isn't aware of its true value.

Just right for that obscure piece by Satie "Trois Morceaux en Forme de un Artichaut."

Richard, despite its curious design, it does appear to be quite carefully made. I didn't think PBS was around back in those days......

Mick

**Jim Garber** · Jun-18-2009, 8:26am

For the archive, here are the pics. I do have to say that the French were most experimental with instrument design including JTL, Gelas, Savart, etc.

The oddest thing is that neck joint.

**Bob A** · Jun-18-2009, 12:39pm

Permit me to point to another candidate for this week's ugliest mandolin, this one at Bernunzio's.

http://bernunzio.com/products/0913508

**vkioulaphides** · Jun-18-2009, 12:45pm

I believe that instrument was once a 3D-prop for the designers at the Max Fleischer Studios-- as they worked on Popeye the Sailor, that is.

LOVE this thread...

Cheers,

Victor

**brunello97** · Jun-18-2009, 1:00pm

Victor! I love Max Fleischer's work. No doubt Breton and the Surrealists did as well.

Likewise, if Smokey Stover had played a mandolin duet with Orville Wright, he would have commissioned a mandolin from one of these two sources.

Mick

**vkioulaphides** · Jun-18-2009, 1:56pm

Being just a musician, after all, I am always profoundly apologetic for my taste in the visual arts, and doubly so for my lifelong love of cartooning; I always tend to assume that, well... others OUGHT to know better about such things. What do I know?

But now that Mick, whose opinion and expertise I value greatly, concurs, I will begin to be, ah... a wee bit less apologetic.

Cheers,

Victor

**journeybear** · Jun-18-2009, 2:51pm

Here are some lovely bowlbacks ...

The decorated one is Russian - at least it is signed in Russian - and looks like it has been played. The bridge needs some adjustment, though.

The mirror mandolin is either built for a lefty or a mirror image.

The last one is carved from alabaster by Giorgio Pecchioni, in a museum in Volterra, Italy. I don't think it's playable - it has a pretty short neck and the intonation doesn't look right.