1850 Early romantic small body guitar in excellent un-restored condition with Original wood case

Early Romantic Small body guitar in excellent condition with original wooden case 

This small body Early Romantic guitar has apparently been in the same family ownership since it was supplied by J P Guivier, of London.  

At around 1865 Guivier’s were just beginning to supply used good guitars. It comes in the original wooden “ebonised” case with original case fastenings. It is estimated that it dates from around 1850 to 1870.  

The original Machine tuners are made by C. EON. These are made by EON snr, and not stamped with the later (and much more common) “EON et fils”. There is evidence of Jerome Thibouville-Lamy guitars around 1860 being supplied with EON et Fils machines. So, my best guess is that this is from around 1850. As there is no label, combined expert opinions have settled on this guitar probably being supplied originaly by Jerome Thibouville-Lamy. 

This guitar plays beautifully. It’s delicate, yet it has plenty of resonance.  

The top is fine grain Spruce, with a beautiful ebonised bridge, some very neat chequer binding and a Mother of Pearl decoration to the sound hole, typical of French guitars at that time. The table shows just a small amount of wear in the usual place. 

The sides and back are Rosewood. They are in excellent condition. The back is one-piece and shows signs of tunic button wear around the waist of the guitar. Again, the back has not been re-finished.  

It is likely that the guitar has been re-fretted at some point. The frets are in excellent condition, but could do with some light finishing to the edges. One fret could do with very minor adjustment for height, but I’m being very picky!  

This lovely little guitar is very unusual as it is without cracks or splits. The only evident work that has been done is some newly applied colouring to the joint between the headstock and the back of the neck. The headstock is original, so one can safely say that this was a professional repair. It may have even just been some re-touching of the colour due to wear. 

This guitar is a real find. It plays well AND it is without splits. It is also supplied in the original case, with the original green felt lining. 

A player / collector would enjoy this instrument. 

Scale: 24 3/4"

Try it for yourself: The guitar is in Cambridgeshire, UK. If you would like to try it out, please let me know and we can make arrangements. 

Part Exchange: If you would like to make a part exchange, please let me know what you have, with some images. 

Shipping: Yes, I will ship Internationally. I have shipped many delicate guitars successfully. They are always very carefully packages and sent with tracking. Please ask for a cost before bidding. I just need your Zip code and Country.

UK shipping is free.

 

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