Archibald Upjohn Campbell (AUC) donated his mandolin to the Kalamazoo Library and Museum in 1939. According to his letter, it was quite plain when he purchased it (around 1896-97). A few years later (around 1900) Orville asked for it back and returned it “as you see it now.” The mandolin is presently in the collection of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.
All photographs on this page copyright 2012 Joyce Brumbaugh
Orville H. Gibson 
How wonderful to see that mandolin! And to think that Orville’s hands touched it! Love this page!
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I gasped when I first saw the carvings. I showed these photos to Walter Carter of Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville and his response was “Must have been a slow day at the shop.” I thought that was a great comment. I might subtitle the chapter section where I talk about this mandolin “A Slow Day at the Shop.”
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I think there are some pictures of the “Lyre” mandolin floating about, I will see if I can connect you to those if you are interested. Only three(I think) are known to exist and, I have actually see one, in hand! That was an interesting day to say the least!
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Nice piece of history. I don’t remember seeing it at the museum last year. Mine is like the “plain” one, without all the fancy artwork carving or inlay around the top body. These bowl backs were unique and I believe discontinued at the factory by 1903 as it was too time consuming to carve them out. Much of the walnut wood on the back edges was only 1/8″ thick.
Your pics of the tailpiece show a much newer added piece as in that time frame, there was no hole for a strap peg, and I don’t believe phillips screws were out yet. Another interesting thing is that these early models had no sound hole going up the neck.
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