M. Canga Romantic Era Guitar, 1812 [USED]

This lovely and quite playable M. Canga Romantic Era Guitar, still contains music! A 'Canga' guitar, apparently built by a Spanish officer in Bar-sur-Ornain - France (now Bar le Duc) during 1812, an area that still has many active luthiers. Over time, it's required some repairs and as part of that, most of the interior treble side and part of the bass side were lined with hand-written sheet music.

Following the patterns of the time, this Canga guitar features a Spruce top paired with Mahogany for the sides and back and likely the ebony-veneered neck. Ebony was also used for the frets, bridge, fingerboard, headplate, nut, bridge pins and the original friction tuning pegs. There is extensive Mother of Pearl inlay around the back, top, soundhole, fingerboard and headstock. There is no appearance of now-restricted materials such as Ivory or Rosewood. The strings currently installed are a low-tension Aquila Ambra 800 set, knotted at the bridge end and held in place by the pins as with modern ball-end strings. Originally and of necessity, gut strings would have been used.

Over the centuries this wonderful instrument has had a number of necessary repairs to the top and bass side, including some replaced Mahogany on the upper bass bout and a related pressure fracture to the top. Another crack on the treble side of the top, leading towards the bridge was glued long ago. The back seam also separated at some point and has been reglued. The finish is hand-applied and likely shellac or French Polish. The music score used on the inner sides remains unidentified.

Overall, this fascinating piece is in good structural and playing condition. It does play well, and has a remarkably full and warm tone.

Sold with an oversized Yamaha hard shell case, with extra padding added for fit.

M. Canga, the builder of this guitar, was apparently a Spanish military officer and had likely been taken prisoner during the Napoleonic era Peninsular War (1808-1814). There was a prisoner of war camp in Bar-sur-Ornain, used for Spanish prisoners including officers awaiting parole. During his time in the area, it appears that M. Canga built at least twelve guitars, given that the first line of the label reads 'Num 12.'

The label seems to read:  "Num 12.cette guitare est composee de 5700 pie-ces par M. Canga Officier Espagnol a Bar-sur-Ornain le 18 Novembre 1812"

A rough translation is "Number 12. This guitar is composed of 5700 pieces by M. Canga Spanish Officer in Bar-sur-Ornain on November 18, 1812"

This suggests that this is the twelfth instrument built by M. Canga at Bar-sur-Ornain, and the label was completed and applied on 18 November 1812.

The label leads to further questions. First, 5700 pieces seems high even counting the individual inlay segments. Second, at the time, military officers were often drawn from noble families, or from military academies that accepted young men from higher classes. It was also possible for commoners to attend these academies if they demonstrated aptitude or had connections, and that may be the case here.

For members of noble families, developing manual skills including Lutherie was less common if not anathema, and would suggest that M. Canga was from a lower class. That said, it is known that prisoners of the time might take up new skills to avoid boredom or perhaps earn a living, which could explain any prisoner's involvement in guitar-making.This instrument is well designed, skillfully built and fairly elaborate, indicating that the builder already had advanced manual and woodworking skills. &The quality of the instrument points towards someone from the 'lower' social ranks.

 

There are no refunds or returns on used items unless authorized in advance by a Twelfth Fret Sales Associate at time of sale. View Our Full Terms Here

 

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DETAILS: 

• Instrument Model:  Romantic Era Guitar
• Instrument Manufacturer:  M. Canga
• Instrument year:  1812
• Instrument Finish:  French Polish
• Instrument Class:  Antique, Vintage
• Instrument serial number:  N/A, label numbered 12 and dated 18 November 1812 at Bar-sur-Ornain, France
• Country of Origin:  France
• Instrument Condition: Good
• Playing Condition: Good
  
• Right-handed 
• CITIES Documentation Required:  No
• Case included:  Yes
• Case original:  No
• Case Type: Hard
• Instrument Weight Imperial:   2.2 lbs
• Instrument Weight Metric:   1 kgs
• Scale Length Imperial:    24.91 in
• Scale Length Metric:    633 mm
• Nut Width Imperial:    1.979 in
• Nut Width Metric:  50.28 mm
  
• Items in Case: N/A
• Consignment: Yes
• Product ID: 190137

 

There are no refunds or returns on used items unless authorized in advance by a Twelfth Fret Sales Associate at time of sale. View Our Full Terms Here