Mandolin No.1, for Lydia Merriman, 1971.
James D’Aquisto expressed a desire to make more mandolins, but demand for his archtop guitars was too great and he only made three in his lifetime. The first of these, made for Lydia Merriman was too thin on the belly, so he stripped the fittings from it, and used them to remake a second Mandolin No.1 for her. The original carcass remained in his workshop until his estate was dispersed. and it came to us some years later. Knowing that the Metropolitan Museum of Art was planning its blockbuster Guitar Heroes exhibition, we were able to assist in the acquisition of the instrument. A number of D’Aquisto’s instruments were completed by his successor, John Montieleone, just as he had contributed to finishing instruments by his predecessor, John D’Angelico. Therefore it made sense for him to finish the instrument with new fittings by Monteleone in the original style. We were naturally amused to handle the first out of four of only three mandolins known to have been made, and delighted when it turned out to be a major highlight of the Guitar Heroes show.
Connoissership at Oxford University.
For the academic world there are deep problems that arise from historic artefacts that are untethered from a record of provenance, and the violin is
