Instrument Artistry

When, centuries ago, explorers broke into Nero's palace long buried in Rome they discovered intricate designs on his ceilings. Since the excavations created caves (in Italian "grotto") the designs copied from those ceilings came to be known as grotesques. Many of these and similar grotesques later appeared on engravings on sword and gun stock, some of these were saved in books on early engraving. It seems apparent that early pearl engravings were influenced by these European designs. Many of my designs seen on this page can be directly traced back to the influence of those early Roman designs and the later ornamentation they inspired. Even the "chubby dragon" seen in my logo is my refinement of an old Bacon design.

1. Comet Banjo – I had seen a banjo called "the comet" with some astronomical designs and decided to carry it further. The moon, comets, owls, a telescope, clouds, stars and other creatures of the night dominate the theme in the headstock and fingerboard.
2. Influenced by my comet banjo above, someone designed this "milky way" banjo, built sometime after seeing my website years ago. Clouds here are in pearl not the creme-color cellulose as used in the comet. Perhaps imitation is the highest form of flattery?
3. Formal Banjo – I designed this banjo on commission for a university academic. In the headstock I continued the idea of the Comet Banjo above and used pieces of creme-colored cellulose to create clouds with a sun-divinity like design looking down at crescent moon and stars inlaid in the ebony portion. I continued use of the creme-color against black scheme in the rim and dowel stick and in the heel. At the end of the fingerboard I used a floral design influenced by a banjo in Jim Bollman's collection.
4. Weymann – used a fairly simple but effective headstock even on their # 1 megaphonic rim tenor banjos. They flourished in the tenor banjo era, Weymann being in Philadelphia.
5. S.S. Stewart – another Philadelphia company, but from an earlier era. They made very ornate instruments, such as the intricate pearlwork in this "thoroughbred" headstock.
6. Vega – when Vega mandolins purchased the A.C. Fairbanks banjo company, they wished not to be outdone, as shown this design from their top-of-the-line # 9 Tubaphone.
7. On the back of the headstock of banjo # 3, I used the floral outline found in the headstock of the # 9 Vega to create a "negative" space within the creme-color surround.
8. Epiphone – created a beautiful dragon painting ( a bit out-of-focus!) on the back of its resonator in the "emperor" banjo which is offered for sale on the vintage instrument webpage.
9. Gibson trap door tenor banjos were not, as with most Gibsons, as ornately elaborate as the others above. Nonetheless, effective designs were made, particularly in their "Florentine" line.
10. Earlier Gibson mandolin torch inlays were more ornate, such as in this circa 1910 example.
11. The1890s "no-name" banjo shown here used a lovely lyre in the headstock such, without engraving nor over done complexity, nonetheless created a very effective design.
12. Modern makers create new banjo designs, such as this by a Belgium maker, which continue to show both the "grotesque" ancient Roman influence as well as Celtic interweave designs.
13. Both ancient Italy and modern Italy are a prime source of ornamentation. We conclude this with a tip-of-the-hat to Gennaro Rubbino, a great late-1800s Neapolitan mandolin maker. This headstock, from one of his mandolins, is truly a complex design & work of ornamental art.