Italian
Miniature Mandolin, 1700-1750
Wood , 53 x 11.3 x 6.6 cm (20 7/8 x 4 7/16 x 2 5/8 in.)
General admission for children 17 years and under is always free
This miniature Italian Mandolin from the early 18th Century is about three-fourths the size of a full-sized mandolin. It’s elongated pear shaped body is faced with light wood while the neck and headstock with turners to adjust the strings at the top are of dark wood. The front of the soundboard on the body has an ornate circular sound hole in the center formed by interlocking, looped strips of light wood, and near the bottom of the front a raised dark wood strip used to anchor the strings which are absent. The neck has seven parallel metal frets (slightly raised thin strips to aid in fingering) each extending the width of the neck, and the narrow, arched headstock has five peg-like wooden turners projecting out on one side, and four projecting out on the other. Above the tuners on he very top of the headstock, a strip of dark wood makes a sharp C-curve.
Yellow Room
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.