Martin 1-21 Parlour Guitar-Vintage 1869-1880

Description

This Exquisite little Martin 1-21 Parlour Guitar was made in the Martin Factory in Nazareth in the USA  between the 1869 and 1880!

It was dated by Hank guitars in Denmark Street in the in the 90’s as from 1880.But we have recently found information  that suggests it could be much earlier as the beautiful inlay on the back strip and the end wedge  are not found on later than 1860’s 1-21’s (Wood End edge and herringbone backstrips were standard features of the 186o’s and after 1-21’s),the cedar neck with Spanish heel , was a feature that came in 1860.And the  style of sound hole decoration seems to have come in in 1869, and the style of the Bridge Pins seems to dates it again at 1869!

We are still currently researching into this – if you have any in-depth information on early Martins you would like to volunteer please get in touch.

So to give historical context to this guitar -Christian Frederick Martin was born in Germany in Markneukirchen1796. He came from a long line of cabinet makers and his Father Johann George Martin also made Guitars. At 15 Christian was apprenticed to Johann Georg Stauffer , a well known guitar maker in Austria. Christian then returned to his home town and opened his own guitar making shop.But in the early 1800’s the Guild system controlled the lives of all European Craftsmen and the Violin Makers Guild  demanded exclusive rights to the making of instruments-this led to many legal wrangling between the two Guilds ,and although the Cabinet Makers finally won the right to produce Guitars ,Christian became so frustrated by it all that in 1833, he decided to move to America.

He set up a shop in Hudson Street in New York, and his guitars took off! Such was their popularity that in 1838 he moved to Nazareth in Pennsylvania and opened a large workshop!

In 1867 his son Christian Frederick Martin  Junior joined him in guitar making  and expanded  the  enterprise in Nazareth into a small factory, so it looks like this guitar was made just after he joined the business working alongside his father until he died  in 1873 !

The Guitar is made with a Solid Spruce Top, Rosewood back and sides ,Cedar neck and Ebony fingerboard.It has  C F Martin & Co -New York Stamped in the interior and CF MARTIN NEW YORK indented into the wood on the back of the headstock.It has an oblong and diagonal patterned inlay down the back strip of the guitar and a diamond inlay on the wood end wedge at the strap button.The Sound Hole is wonderfully slightly off centre.

Size wise it is

:Headstock to Bottom: 37 3/4 ”

:Body Length: 18 7/8 ”

:UpperBout :9 1/4″

:LowerBout:12 3/4″

:Depth Upper: 3 9/16″

:Depth Lower 4 3/16″

:Sound Hole Diameter: 3 9/16″

:Nut :1 7/8″

: 12the Fret :2 5/16″

It has been restored by Curvy Sounds Luthier Andrew Mills ,who repaired an earlier crack repair and sensitively restored the top area over the crack , he made 3 replacement bridge pins, and added new Stumac GoldenAge restoration Tuning Pegs -replicas of early Martin tuners, to replace some 1950’s Cluson Tuners that had been put on in the 50’s when the originals broke.It has had a very careful set up and now plays with an incredible sweetness of tone and soulful clarity.

The History of this Guitar itself is that it has been in the Pierce family since it was bought by the owners Nick Pierce’s  Great , Great  Uncle when he went from the UK to America.He then gave it to the Nicks  Great Grandfather as part of a payment for a debt he owed the family.This  Great grand father was G.W Pierce the headmaster of Owslebury School from 1905 to 1931 , although he enlisted in  the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry in 1915 during the First World War, returning as headmaster after the war  in 1919. He ran the school choir which won  a series of  awards in Winchester Music Festival in 1924 and won highest marks third year running in 1926 for Unison and Folk songs!The Guitar was then Nicks Aunt  in the 1990’s .Nick was then given the guitar and before anyone understood its value ,he used to take it to school as a boy-luckily it wasn’t kicked around with the lunch boxes- he looked after it well and her it is now gracing our walls at Curvy Sounds !