Jonathan
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Manol label
I think I may have posted this earlier in another thread, but I will give it another shot.
I have been looking at photographs of as many Manol labels as I can, and, on some, there seems to be a hand written symbol, usually on the right side
of the label.
This does not occur on all of the ouds but, on the 10 or so labels I have seen, it has appeared on three.
The symbol almost looks like a 6, or a G, but I am guessing that it is neither of these.
Does it approximate a Greek letter? Or something in the Ottoman script?
I am particularly trying to figure out if this symbol suggests that a certain person in Manol's shop had a hand in the construction of the oud.
Here's an example:
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Jonathan
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Here's another, this time with the symbol on the left
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Jonathan
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But, most of the labels do not have that symbol, so it is not as if it is some sort of final stamp of approval.
On most of the labels, only the year is handwritten
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Jonathan
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Another.
You get the idea.
In my very very little exposure to these labels, these plane labels seem a bit more prevalent.
But, I have not seen any correlation with how fancy the instrument is, nor have I seen a correlation with the presence of sedef.
If anybody has any ideas, please let me know.
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Jonathan
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Finally, a couple of more questions. Are there any photographs of Manol, or his shop? Does anybody know what happened to his shop after his death?
Is there a list of his employees anywhere?
Thanks!
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al-Halabi
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This symbol is not a recognizable letter or word in Ottoman Turkish. It is written from left to right, and may be a Greek letter (possibly the
lower-case Greek "m"?)
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Jonathan
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That's a great point. It does seem to be written left to right.
m? Interesting.
I guess that I am hoping that perhaps Manol himself specifically marked those ouds that he was principally involved in.
By the way, Manol Brothers? Were other siblings oud makers?
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al-Halabi
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Manol's sons and brothers also manufactured ouds, but they did not enjoy the same recognition.
The labels you posted make no mention of brothers, though. The Turkish portion says "Manufactured by Manol" and gives the address in Galata. The Greek
identifies the "Venios workshop in Constantinople" and gives the address.
Manol trained several apprentices. The most famous was Mustafa Usta, who died in 1935.
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Jonathan
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And Hamza Usta.
I hate to read too much into this, but it would seem that the symbol was probably made at the same time the date was written. The same person likely
did both. The ink seems to be the same, so probably they were written at the same time. It is reasonable to assume that Manol himself wrote the date
and, at times, the symbol.
I don't know how the Greek M (mu) is written. The font of the lower case is posted below, but, of course, there can be a huge difference between the
type-written and the handwritten. Could be, though. Still, I don't know why he would use the lower case for his name.
Anybody out there have any more photographs of these labels?
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al-Halabi
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If I am not mistaken, Hamza Usta did not train or work with Manol. He did use Manol's designs, though.
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spyrosc
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Letter
Jonathan,
My forst impression is that it is the Greek letter phi (as in philosophy).
I don't know what it stands for, it could be the initial of somebody working there whose name was Photis (lol), or it could be an abbreviation for
"phino" meaning "fine" or "first class".
Spyros C.
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oudipoet
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hi friends i wanna correct somthing here
al-habibi said that "If I am not mistaken, Hamza Usta did not train or work with Manol."
well my friend you are wrong cos hamza usta learned how to make oud from manol usta but at first when he was a kid he learned the technique of making
Turkish saz and similar instruments from his father and when his father passed away he moved to Istanbul where he met manol usta and he started to
learn the techniques of oud making after that he open his own shop near cemberlitas and he kept making very high quality ouds as he learned from his
master MANOL usta
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oudipoet
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i am sorry i meant al-halabi
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mavrothis
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Hey,
The letter looks to me like it is the Greek "f" - pronounced "Fee"
I don't know what it might mean though.
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Jonathan
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Thanks, guys. I'm sure it must mean something, I just can't figure out what. I was talking to somebody a couple of days ago that has one Manol with
the mark, and one without. I will try to get some pictures of the one with the mark.
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