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1896 Calace Mandolyra with New Pelican Case – Antique Mandolin
Instrument Dimensions: 25” x 12” x 5”
Made in Naples, Italy. The most ornate mandolyra I have ever seen.
·Spectacular white abalone mother of pearl inlay on the fingerboard, pickguard, top trim and soundhole.
·Hand-inlaid silver tuner panel on headstock with Ivory buttons
·Ivory pieces on top of the “horns”
·Brazilian rosewood sides and back
·Tortoise shell on back of neck and center of back
·The instrument sounds wonderful and plays perfectly
·New Pelican Case with custom inserts
·Brevetto August 1895 carved in top
·All-original except for fingerboard, nut and bridge
Restoration was expertly done by Brothers Music Shop in Wind Gap, PA. The neck was reset and refretted. The original fingerboard was tortoise-shell but over time had deteriorated beyond repair. Brothers made a new fingerboard out of ebony and used the original inlays to complete. A new bone nut was fabricated, as was a period-correct bridge. A total of $3000 was spent on the restoration. Additional setup was done by John Fitzgerald of Perretta Guitars in Dallas.
About Raffaele Calace:
The Calace workshop was founded in 1825 by Nicola Calace, on the island of Procida near Naples. He started by producing guitars. When he died, the tradition was continued by his son Antonio, who started making mandolins after moving to Naples. Antonio's two sons, Nicola and Raffaele, inherited his knowledge and the business when he died. The brothers worked together making mandolins, but soon the superiority of Raffaele Calace as composer, musician and instrument-marker, caused conflict between the two.
Nicola Calace emigrated to America in 1901, where under the name of Nicola Turturro he continued to build instruments. Knowledge of Raffaele's genius and talent became widespread. He composed more than 180 works for plectrum instruments, was universally acknowledged and became known as "The Paganini of the mandolin" for the vigor and expressivity of this work. He studied and improved the mandolin, achieving technically advanced instruments.
He handed down his skills to his son Giuseppe Calace, who made high quality instruments. Giuseppe, in turn, handed down the secrets to his son Raffaele Jr. who, after the death of his father, has followed the family tradition since.
