"La Principia". That is the name I gave to my replica. It translates in English as "The Beginning". While it appears that Torres may have learned the art of lutherie from José Pernas, and may have built one or more instruments prior to 1852, it is generally accepted that the year 1852 was the beginning of his commercial career as a guitarrero, or guitar maker...hence the name of my replica, "La Principia".
As stated in an earlier post, I was inspired to build my replica after seeing the Spring 2017 edition (No. 9) of the online magazine, Orfeo, dedicated to the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Antonio de Torres Jurado. It was in that edition that I first saw multiple photos of the instrument I have sought to replicate, previously only having seen photos of the rosette, which, at the time I believed to be a fake. The actual work on the guitar began in June, 2018, and was completed in September of that year, followed by construction of a fitted, wooden "coffin" case for it.
This post shows the finished results of my efforts. Is it perfect? Hardly. Is it an exact copy? Of course not. Am I proud of my work? Absolutely. I'll let you decide what you think.
Photos of the original 1852 Torres are by Alberto Martinez. Photos of my replica, "La Principia" are by John McGuire mcguirephoto.com (Please note: The original and my replica are exactly the same size, however the images may not be precisely sized the same)
And now for the wooden "coffin" case. It was built from old growth Honduras mahogany with ebony binding and a leopardwood insert on the top.
Hope you enjoyed my "journey" to build a replica of the 1852 Torres.