Mandolin: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This mandolin has an unknown maker, location, and date of manufacture. It is painted black with a gold design on the front. The design features a man playing a mandolin under the moon to a woman on the balcony of a castle. It reads "BREVETTATO" under the image. The instrument has 8 strings with metal mechanical turning pegs that are decorated with what could possibly be ivory. Based on its construction, it appears to be made for commercial trade and was possibly only a decorative instrument.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Object Name: Mandolin
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Physical Description: ivory? (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 1 3/4 in x 23 in x 9 in; 4.445 cm x 58.42 cm x 22.86 cm
• ID Number: MI.381916
• accession number: 160028
• catalog number: 381916
• Credit Line: Mary E. Maxwell
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.