1942 Selmer Model-Jazz Guitar, Serial Number 565

Mario Maccaferri (American, b. Italy, 1900–1993), designer; Henri Selmer Paris, maker
Guitar, Jazz model (serial number 565), 1942
Spruce, rosewood; 7 3/4 x 24 5/8 in. (19.7 x 62.5 cm)
Private Collection

Maccaferri was from Cento, Italy, where he studied instrument building with Luigi Mozzani. Trained as a guitarist at the conservatory in Siena, Maccaferri toured as a soloist throughout Europe and eventually settled in London. The instrument manufacturer Henri Selmer asked Maccaferri to create a design for a guitar that could be used in jazz music. The resulting models, created for both jazz and classical music, have become iconic because of their use by the famed early jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. This example from 1942 has a smaller egg-shaped sound hole that was not a part of Maccaferri’s original design

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Ney Work

Produced: 1942

Serial Number: 565

Comments:

Clearly from the time after Mario Maccaferri left Selmer and moved to New York.  This guitar was included in the Guitar Heroes Exhibit at the Met in the same case as his other instruments.

According to page 249 of the F.Charle book.  Number 565 is listed as a “Guitare palissandre” (Rosewood). Purchased by “Persey”, delivered to Brussels and manufactured on May, 8, 1942