1850's Martin Ivory Fingerboard Stauffer Style Headstock Guitar





Martin sometimes held over features for many years, offering guitars with a mix of features from many periods on request.  One such set of features is
the Stauffer Style headstock with Vienna gears on an ebonized neck with ice cream cone heel.  This fancy, small size 3 presentation guitar with ivory clad
fingerboard and Vienna gears was most likely built in the 1850's.

This example has the third of the three basic pearl diamond soundhole designs, with twin bands of tiny alternating long and short pearl diamonds, as
well as fancy wood marquetry on the top border and on the sides adjacent to the top and back binding, and rare, gold plated frets.  With beautiful Brazilian
rosewood veneer over spruce on the back, the earliest features such as the ebonized neck and ice cream cone heel are combined with mature X braces. 
The back is a rosewood veneer over spruce.


Early CF Martin Ivory Fingerboard, Stauffer Style Headstock Guitar, built c. 1850.

With ivory fingerboard and delicate marquetry inlaid adjacent to the font and back ivory bindings.


Formerly of the Chinery Collection.





Illustrated on p. 7 of Bacon, "History of the American Guitar":

"Gradually, Christian Martin began to bring to the guitars he made more of his own ideas on construction and design.  The most obvious visual
change when comparing this example to the earlier Stauffer-style is the narrower upper body, giving an overall shape that is more like a modern guitar."












 
 














 

Bacon "History of the American Guitar"  p. 6-7





vintagemartin.com


To See Robert Corwin's Classic Photography of Folk and Roots Musicians, visit:

robertcorwin.com

For Information on Photography for
Exhibition, Publication, CD's, Promotion, Web Pages, Tour Books,
to Purchase Photographic Prints, or

If You Have Questions or Suggestions About This Web Site or Vintage Martin Guitars:
 
e-mail: Robert Corwin

entire site copyright ©1998 through 2016 Robert Corwin/Photo-Arts. All rights reserved.