Roger E. Blumberg wrote:

 > Humor me if you would. Take a pin or needle, grab it with pliers,
..
 > Smell like burning plastic?

Oh, we're definitely at a time long before plastic was invented. There's 
absolutely no doubt about that!

Doc Rossi wrote:
 > An obvious point, but it would be a good idea to find out when João
 > Miguel Andade was building.

The three or four instruments I have been able to locate are all dated 
to the late 19th C. although I can't say how well documented the datings 
are. The one at the Royal Northern College of Music may be the easiest 
one to obtain more specific information about.
Given that no. 5 in my list seems to be identical to another of the 
models listed in the Zimmermann catalogue, I think it's safe to assume 
that Zimmermann got their instruments from Andarde which of course again 
means he was building them in 1899.

ron fernandez wrote:

>The other proof would be a catalogue from Alban Voigt.. Does anyone 
>>know anything about Alban Voigt and Company of London?

What a wonderful thing Google is! I found a couple of instruments with 
the Voigt label, including three Andrade Portuguese guitars although one 
of them (no. 9 below) may be Ron's before he bought it.

I'll begin with the summary:
Alban Voigt imported and sold musical instruments to Egnland and the 
English colonies towards the end of the 19th C. His catalogue included 
some rather prestigious makers and it's possible he focused solely on 
the upper end of the market.
His company seems to have been around in 1870, was certainly in business 
in 1900 and may have been gone by 1910.

There were also at least two other Voigts that sold and/or built 
instruments. Kurt Voigt seems to have been German and was probably a 
distant relative or not related at all. Simon Voigt seems to have been 
English. Maybe he was Alban's son or something like that?

The instruments I found are:
1) http://sinierderidder.free.fr/gb/mandolines/ceccherini.html
A Ceccherini mandolin c. 1900

2) http://www.zavaletas-guitarras.com/files/collection.htm
A Garcia guitar c. 1870

3) http://www.vintage-instruments.com/catalogs/mandolin.htm
http://members.tripod.com/~Music_Treasures/cittern.htm

4) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7398284648
A banjo-lute (probably by Pollman and most likely from the 1890s). 
Apparently this had an unusual string configuration (the banjo-lute 
usually had five like a bluerass banjo).

5) http://mywebpages.comcast.net/MusicTreasures/cittern.htm
Another Andrade Portuguese guitar!
This one seems to be the mid-priced model listed by Zimmermann. Is 
Brazilian rosewood the same as palisander?

6) http://mywebpages.comcast.net/MusicTreasures/mandolin.htm
Ceccherini mandolin c. 1900

7) http://www.rncm.ac.uk/docs/Library/hwm10.pdf
Page 17: Yet another Andarde in the Royal Northern Colege of Music's 
instruments collection.
More info about the collection at http://www.rncm.ac.uk/?_id=1102

8) (No link - the item has been removed from Ebay's database)
A Garcia lyra-guitar offered for sale on Ebay April 2006. You may want 
to ask the Ebay seller (magginisupplies) for information.

9) 
http://www.invaluable.com/PartnerPages/Lot.aspx?SaleHouseID=1040349&SaleID=1114318&UNID=215142026
A fourth Andrade offer for sale in September 2005. Is this the one Ron 
bought?

Some more information:
10) http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-forums/piano202.html
Voigt sold Haake pianos in England in 1900. In 1910 Haake was sold by 
Crane & Sons.
Does that mean Voigt was out of business by 1910? Had he just lost that 
particular maker? Did *both* companies import the same brand? Was Crane 
a retailer and Voigt the distributor?

11) http://people.freenet.de/Maultrommel/klassifikation.htm
In 1925 somebody named Alban Voigt wrote an article about the history of 
the jews harp. Probably not the same person.


Frank Nordberg
http://www.musicaviva.com
http://www.abc-notation.com
http://www.tablatvre.com
http://www.mandolin-player.com
http://www.blues-harmonica.com
http://www.irish-banjo.com
http://www.blues-banjo.com
http://www.roarogfrank.com



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