Romantica 1890 Antica - - Classical guitar - Italy

Ancient Romantic guitar of the 19th century, Florence Pilade Maurri Italian antique concert guitar, with original label..Florence, Piazza S. Croce 6, 1880 1890
Called the GUITAR THAT LAUGHS, for its saddle bridge shaped like a smile.
Made with spruce top and back and side ribs in walnut
The construction features the typical characteristics of Tuscan luthierie of the period: spruce soundboard, rosette with concentric veneers, original shaped bridge and peghead in 19th-century style.
The wood patina, wear consistent with the age, attest the authenticity and the collecting interest of the instrument.

Together with his brother Pilade he opened a shop specialized in music publishing and a company building mandolins, mandolas and guitars in Florence. The labels on Maurri mandolins report the existence of a shop in Via delle Farine, No. 2 and a workshop in Piazza S. Croce, No. 6.

The Maurri company printed a vast catalog of plucked-instrument music, which today constitutes the Maurri Collection (Curci Ed.). The Raffaello Maurri factory was later taken over by Carlo Schmidl in 1923.[1]

According to musicologist Paul Sparks (1995), the Maurri luthiers are credited with the invention of the so-called "Tuscan mandolin" or "Florentine", characterized by a different tilt of the soundboard and by a number of double or single courses varying between 4 and 5.

Conditions very good and functional, a slight warp on a rib as shown in the photographs which are part of the description and on the back it is marked but part of the restoration that has been done and also refinished.
Total measurement 96 cm with the body; the upper part is 27.5 cm wide and the lower part 34.5 cm wide
Fingerboard: two brass frets are missing and a key is missing
Rare piece.. good auction

Insured shipping and at pickup I ask to have the courier add the inscription: ACCETTO CON RISERVA
this is for potential damages during transport for insurance.