Name of Instrument: mandolin

Maker / Brand:

Stearns Catalog #: 1054

Country of Origin: Italy

Region of Origin: Europe

Instrument Category: Chordophone

Date of Fabrication: late-19th C.

Location: CHO FF 3

Description: This Mandolin has a spruce table (cracked) with a circular sound hole; the piece is rimmed with a beveled band of wood (walnut?). Symmetrically placed around the sound hole are eight holes filled with spruce dowels. The bowl-shaped maple back is made of one piece that has been hollowed out (visible stain and sanding marks). The neck is the same piece of wood as the back and peg board. The fingerboard has seventeen nickel-silver inlaid frets. The peg board has eight wood pegs that enter from the back; the eight wire-wound strings are arranged in four courses. They attach to the pin bridge on the lower table with five wooden nails.

Research: Dr. Bruce Mitchell Smith