Italian Neapolitan Mandolin Makers

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   To my knowledge, there is as yet no publication detailing the many Italian Neapolitan mandolin makers. During the course of my restoration and renovation of many mandolins, I have collected some information on this subject, and hope here to throw a little more light on the artisans who produced such beautiful instruments. I would welcome contributions from any other enthusiasts. If you have a mandolin by a maker that I don't list here, I would be pleased to receive full-length, front and back photos, and the details of the label or top-stamp.

   If I have your instrument here, and you would like to be credited with the photo, please let me know.

 

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The above are links to general pages of Italian mandolin makers; the links below to individual, highly regarded ones....
Embergher Rome Vinaccia Naples Ceccherini Calace de Meglio Ferrari
 
Puglisi Loveri Maratea Salsedo De Santis  
In his 'Manuale Teorico-Practico del Mandolinista' of 1923, arguably the end of the Golden Age of the Mandolin, Agostino Pisani cites the following as notable makers, perhaps a more reliable guide than the number of extant instruments to be seen today.

Naples: Vinaccia Fratelli; Maratea, Michele & Domenico E Figli; Esposito, Fratelli Pasquale & Gaetano; Calace, Raffaele; Rubino, Gennaro; Loveri, Carlo & Figli; Ricci, Luigi; Abbate, Alessandro & Figli;

Catania: Carabba Fratelli; Indelicato, Salvatore; Rosario, Porto & Figli; Alfio, Bianca Francesco; Puglisi Reale & Figlio; Silvestri, Ermelinda;

Firenze: Maurri R. & Fratello; Lybeert, Alessandro & Figli; Casini, Seraphino; Del Perugia, Fernandino;

Rome: Valente, Raffaele; De Santis, Giovanni & Figli; Embergher, Luigi;

Others Locations: Compare, Vittorio in Livorno; Albertini, Carlo & Figli in Milan (mandolini lombardi only); Ventura, Enrico, and Cesana, Carlo in Carate-Brianza; Rocca, Enrico fu Giuseppe in Genoa; Bruno, Carlo in Torino; Garganesi, Vito & Antonio in Monopoli; Mozzani, Prof. Liuteria in Cento, Ferrara;  and Averna, Gesualdo in Caltanissetta.