1924 Lloyd Loar Gibson F5 Mandolin Sells for $84,000 at Skinner
In Skinner’s May 5th auction of Fine Musical Instruments, a 1924 Gibson F5 Mandolin, designed by the famed acoustic engineer, Lloyd Loar, estimated at $40,000 - $60,000, sold for $84,000, a record for a Lloyd Loar mandolin sold at auction. The mandolin is signed and dated by Loar, March 31, 1924, and features a back of one piece and a peghead inlaid with the unusual “fern” design. An F5 with this combination is regarded by collectors as one of the rarest of all of Gibson’s output.
According to David Bonsey, Skinner’s Director of Musical Instruments, The Gibson F5 Mandolin is one of the most significant American instruments of the 20th century. A brilliant and creative musician, Loar was the architect of the modern stringed instrument, developing the Master Model series of acoustic instruments and inventing the first solid-body electric viola. The Gibson F5 mandolin is perhaps his finest achievement. It has remained the most desirable of all mandolins, and is the standard by which all others are judged.
Skinner hopes to make American music history once again by repeating this exceptional performance in its next auction of Fine Musical Instruments in November 2002. That sale will feature an older an even more sought after Lloyd Loar mandolin: a Gibson F5 signed by Loar and dated May 29, 1923. “This ’23 may even be preferred by players, and does not have the internal “Virzi Tone Producer, (an acoustical device which was installed on some models). Its tone is fuller than that of the ’24, and the condition is even a bit better. It was played by a musician in a New York Klezmer band in the 1940s, and includes songbooks of the Jewish Music Alliance. We are all eagerly awaiting the November sale”, notes Bonsey.
For more information on the 1923 Gibson F5, or to consign your rare musical instrument, please contact David Bonsey, Skinner’s director of Fine Musical Instruments, at 978-779-6241, or via email at music@skinnerinc.com.
