Secrets of the A/I Stathopoulos rosette
A hypothesis and a valuable friendship!
One of the most important decorative elements on bouzouki instruments during the pre-war era, was the hand carved rosette.
The rosette, meant to be instrument's center piece of attention and pride, since the decoration of the sound board, pick-guard and binding, was limited to the usage of very simple wooden fillets and forms.
At first, for the creation of my A/I Stathopoulos bouzouki, I designed approximately 10 different rosettes, without any success.
At the end, I decided to use a rosette inspired by Mourtzinos bouzouki with a beautiful relief effect.
But, every-time I was revisiting my drawings to re-examine the design concept, I was feeling that something still was missing .
I had tried unsuccessfully in the past to incorporate the first letter of Stathopoulos cousins' name inside a rosette.
Finally I decided to give another try and incorporate the design from the Mourtzinos rosette with the letters of Ioannis and Anastasios Stathopoulo
As I mentioned on an earlier post, the inspiration for the creation of this instrument, was based on the fantastic assumption that the two luthiers had worked together in the making of this bouzouki , sometime before Anastasios migrate to New York.
I wanted to engrave this fantastic cooperation of the two cousins on the instrument, by incorporating somehow the first letters of their names on the rosette.
When I finally finished successfully the creation of this unique rosette, I realized that the letters from the first and last name of my luthier, Gianni Tsoulogianni, but also the letters of my first and last name , could easily been identified (formed) inside this rosette design.
The fantastic assumption which brought together two of the 19th century greatest luthiers, became the reason for the creation of an instrument which will always remind me (every time I am looking to its beautiful rosette), the special bond and strong friendship I developed with the luthier !
One of the most important decorative elements on bouzouki instruments during the pre-war era, was the hand carved rosette.
The rosette, meant to be instrument's center piece of attention and pride, since the decoration of the sound board, pick-guard and binding, was limited to the usage of very simple wooden fillets and forms.
At first, for the creation of my A/I Stathopoulos bouzouki, I designed approximately 10 different rosettes, without any success.
At the end, I decided to use a rosette inspired by Mourtzinos bouzouki with a beautiful relief effect.
But, every-time I was revisiting my drawings to re-examine the design concept, I was feeling that something still was missing .
I had tried unsuccessfully in the past to incorporate the first letter of Stathopoulos cousins' name inside a rosette.
Finally I decided to give another try and incorporate the design from the Mourtzinos rosette with the letters of Ioannis and Anastasios Stathopoulo
As I mentioned on an earlier post, the inspiration for the creation of this instrument, was based on the fantastic assumption that the two luthiers had worked together in the making of this bouzouki , sometime before Anastasios migrate to New York.
I wanted to engrave this fantastic cooperation of the two cousins on the instrument, by incorporating somehow the first letters of their names on the rosette.
When I finally finished successfully the creation of this unique rosette, I realized that the letters from the first and last name of my luthier, Gianni Tsoulogianni, but also the letters of my first and last name , could easily been identified (formed) inside this rosette design.
The fantastic assumption which brought together two of the 19th century greatest luthiers, became the reason for the creation of an instrument which will always remind me (every time I am looking to its beautiful rosette), the special bond and strong friendship I developed with the luthier !
Quick creation of the guide lines
Elements from Mourtzino's rosette
The A/I Stathopoulos Rosette design
The letter I( Ioannis)
The letter S( Stathopoulos)
The letter A (Anastasios)
The letter T
The letter D (Delta)
The A/I Stathopoulos wooden Rosette
Είσαι ανεξάντλητος !!!!!!!!!
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