george wilson
02-20-2012, 3:11 PM
Unfortunately,these are the only 2 pictures I have of this guitar. For personal reasons,I sold it before I had gotten around to making complete pictures of it. It since has been played in the taverns of Williamsburg by the musician who bought it. I should track him down.
The sides were inlaid with conventional marquetry,but the back is the most interesting part,since it makes a sort of optical puzzle. In the 17th.C.,these type of things were popular. Today,we have Escher,with his stairways that lead nowhere,and cleverly drawn impossibilities.
The peghead of the guitar has ebony and holly marquetry,and in the center an ivory oval with a group of flowers in it in abalone. These flowers would make sense after they were separated by subsequent engraving. The sides of the peghead were made of stacked layers of black and white veneers,chiseled (not sawn) into a scalloped design. Unfortunately,no pictures of this either.
I think I have seen this guitar hanging in the shop in a picture of the staff,or of a general view of the shop. If I can find it,I'll post it so you can get a view of the sides of the guitar.
P.S.:I found a picture that shows the guitar. It is hanging up behind me in this posed news release photo taken about 1975 or so. It is right over my head,with the ivory heart inlaid in the lower bout of the top. This guitar actually was fancier than the other marquetry guitar as far as the face and fingerboard are concerned. Around the edge of the top there is a band of inlay composed of walnut and holly parallelograms bordered by black veneer strips. The ebony line inlays in the top are similar in type,but not copies of any other inlays. I always liked to design these type of things differently each time.
The ivory heart would not have appeared to look so "white" after it was subsequently scrimshawed with designs. You do not want to make a design of this nature with a big object in it that stands out too boldly. The fingerboard of this guitar was composed of inlay work,with 3 or 4 ivory panels that were scrimshawed with pastoral scenes. Too bad it can't be seen.
You can just see 1 side of the guitar,in black and white marquetry with foliage and mythological creatures.
I am filing down the silver inlaid neck of the original marquetry guitar that I posted here before.
On the bench is a guitar form with the staves of the back being glued up. I always used horse shoe nails for clamping these strips because they have nice flat sides that do not dent the wood. The guitar mold is made of solid pine,with the arched back carved on it. The shape of the guitar is sawn out of the solid wood. This made it easy to plane the varying curves onto the sides of the guitar where they meet the back.
Way in the back left hand corner is a press made of 4" oak,which I still have,taken from Diderot.
Sorry these pictures are not complete,but I thought the guitar's back might give someone ideas to adapt for a project of his or her own. A tray,small table,etc..
The sides were inlaid with conventional marquetry,but the back is the most interesting part,since it makes a sort of optical puzzle. In the 17th.C.,these type of things were popular. Today,we have Escher,with his stairways that lead nowhere,and cleverly drawn impossibilities.
The peghead of the guitar has ebony and holly marquetry,and in the center an ivory oval with a group of flowers in it in abalone. These flowers would make sense after they were separated by subsequent engraving. The sides of the peghead were made of stacked layers of black and white veneers,chiseled (not sawn) into a scalloped design. Unfortunately,no pictures of this either.
I think I have seen this guitar hanging in the shop in a picture of the staff,or of a general view of the shop. If I can find it,I'll post it so you can get a view of the sides of the guitar.
P.S.:I found a picture that shows the guitar. It is hanging up behind me in this posed news release photo taken about 1975 or so. It is right over my head,with the ivory heart inlaid in the lower bout of the top. This guitar actually was fancier than the other marquetry guitar as far as the face and fingerboard are concerned. Around the edge of the top there is a band of inlay composed of walnut and holly parallelograms bordered by black veneer strips. The ebony line inlays in the top are similar in type,but not copies of any other inlays. I always liked to design these type of things differently each time.
The ivory heart would not have appeared to look so "white" after it was subsequently scrimshawed with designs. You do not want to make a design of this nature with a big object in it that stands out too boldly. The fingerboard of this guitar was composed of inlay work,with 3 or 4 ivory panels that were scrimshawed with pastoral scenes. Too bad it can't be seen.
You can just see 1 side of the guitar,in black and white marquetry with foliage and mythological creatures.
I am filing down the silver inlaid neck of the original marquetry guitar that I posted here before.
On the bench is a guitar form with the staves of the back being glued up. I always used horse shoe nails for clamping these strips because they have nice flat sides that do not dent the wood. The guitar mold is made of solid pine,with the arched back carved on it. The shape of the guitar is sawn out of the solid wood. This made it easy to plane the varying curves onto the sides of the guitar where they meet the back.
Way in the back left hand corner is a press made of 4" oak,which I still have,taken from Diderot.
Sorry these pictures are not complete,but I thought the guitar's back might give someone ideas to adapt for a project of his or her own. A tray,small table,etc..