Josef Guerra - 1798 - SOLD

This 6 couse guitar by Josef Guerra of Cadiz was made in 1798. It has six pairs of strings with a playing string length of 581mm. A highly figured four piece walnut back with chevron banding as a centre strip, the walnut sides also divided by a longitudinal purfling, make this guitar one of the prized pieces of this collection. The unvarnished pine belly has a decorative inlaid rose of ebony and mother of pearl. The ebony bridge is flanked by a decorative intarsia of different coloured woods in a scroll design. The fingerboard is ebony. The Spanish heal, neck and head of Cedar and twelve ebony rear mounted pegs. This guitar has its origional Cedar fitted case with green material.

Guerra was one of a number of makers in Cadiz who worked at the end of the 18th century. Along with Pages and Benedid, they built this typical transitional guitar with 6 courses until the 1820's, when the change to six strings was fully accepted