January 2023
Fig.1
Bass mandolin, Giovanni Storino, Italy, 1725 (or 1705), inv. 0254
Fig.2
Chitarrone, Matteo Selos, Italy, 1612-1652, inv. 0255
Fig.3
The mandolin shop, Vicenzo Capobianchi (1836-1928), Italy, © Wikigallery.org
An early acquisition linked to a famous painting
The bass mandolin inv. no. 0254 (fig.1) is one of the oldest acquisitions of the Musée des Instruments de Musique. In 1878, Victor-Charles Mahillon, the first curator of what was then called the Instrumental Museum of the Conservatoire, purchased it, together with the chitarrone inv. no. 0255 (fig.2), from the Italian painter Vincenzo Capobianchi (1836–1928). Both instruments can be seen in a painting by this artist entitled The Mandolin Shop (fig.3).
The bass mandolin bears a label reading: Joannes Storino fecit / Anno Domini die 10 / Martij 1725 (or 1705). The maker Giovanni Storino is not known from any other instruments. On the neck of the mandolin is the inscription Il pellegrino (The Pilgrim).
The body of the mandolin may originally have been that of a lute. When it was transformed into a bass mandolin, its soundboard was fitted with a protective plate, as is common for most plucked instruments played with a plectrum. The upper part of the neck is richly decorated and fitted with a particularly original double pegbox, equipped with rear-facing pegs for the small choir (6 courses of 2 strings) and side pegs for the large choir (8 single strings - one peg remains unused). A scroll, reversed compared to the one on violin necks, adorns the top of the instrument.
Bibliography
- Stephen Morey, Mandolins of the 18th century, Cremona, Turris, 1993, p. 129-130