The Victoria line was a brand of Buegeleisen & Jacobson, New York, (who also manufactured the prestigious S.S. Stewart guitars, mandolins and banjos). Alongside their own manufacturing capabilities, Buegeleisen & Jacobson also imported some of their lines from top European manufacturers, and had some instruments built for them by several other US makers. Construction on this lovely bowl-back mandolin appears more American than European, and it is very similar to Martin’s turn of the century Style 1 and 00 models, (less so to any specific Washburn model), so it’s highly likely that this fantastic 100 year old mandolin was made for B&J by Martin*, at their factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. (An outside possibility is that it was built by Chicago’s Lyon & Healy/Washburn organisation, the other major US bowl-back manufacturer at the time)

The body features 13 Rosewood ribs, with a three-piece Rosewood “skirt” enclosing the bowl. Between the Rosewood ribs are very fine bands of Maple or Walnut, (both were in common use). The 10-17 fret neck appears to be Poplar, topped with a Brazilian Rosewood board, featuring inlaid mother-of-pearl markers. The German nickel-silver frets are in excellent shape, as is the genuine Tortoiseshell scratchplate, which features Ivory inlay. The soundboard is very close-grained Spruce, boasting beautiful, spider-web-thin checking in the micro-fine Natural finish.

The seven-ply Ebony and Maple binding, on both the body and the oval sound-hole, is edged with Ivory! (Things were so different a-hundred years ago) The level of finish and appointments on this bent-top model must have put it very close to the top of the Victoria mandolin range.

Bent-top mandolins were designed for maximum tone and projection, and have become highly prized as a result – few other mandolins have the same punch. Even strummed quietly you’ll hear this across the room! Overall tone is geared to the mids and highs, making this the ideal choice for those Led Zeppelin covers: “I’m waiting for the angels of Avalon, waiting for the eastern glow…”

Other than the visible play wear on the front, the instrument is in magnificent shape, and all original except for the bridge, which is of unknown origin. There’s a couple of very small, stabilized cracks near the tailpiece, along with a patch of very slightly dulled finish in the same area. Mainly on the treble side of the tailpiece, a small section of binding has been re-glued, and a tiny section of kerfing has been replaced on the inside of the same area. None of these are issues of concern, indeed, it’s almost impossible to find a 100 year old instrument in such nice condition!

There’s no case, but this little gem will be ultra-well packed for 100% safe shipping.


* The superb Ebony-button tuners give every indication of being Martins. If so, the tuners alone are probably worth as much or more than the $860 we’re asking for the entire instrument!

Price: AUD$860.00 GST Included