1931 Domingo Esteso SP/IN

A 1931 classical guitar by Domingo Esteso, with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, made in Madrid – a smaller Esteso, with a shorter scale and a mother-of-pearl rosette.

In the videos above, Tariq Harb plays the opening Allegro con spirito and the Adagio from Joaquín Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" on this guitar.

A Smaller Guitar with a Big Voice

This is a smaller guitar, with a shorter scale and more compact body than a normal full-size Esteso, yet its volume is huge – when Tariq Harb stopped by our showroom, he didn't expect such a cannon. The warm, rich, played-in sound is plump, lyrical and responsive to every subtlety of touch.

Mother-of-Pearl Rosette

It features a unique and intricate rosette inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and busy inlay in the purfling around the top – the kinds of details Esteso reserved for his premium instruments. A very charming example from one of the greatest luthiers of the early 20th century.

Domingo Esteso: From the Manuel Ramírez Workshop to Gravina 7

Domingo Esteso (1882–1937) is one of the great names of the early Madrid school of guitar making. Born on May 12, 1882, in San Clemente, in the province of Cuenca, he learned his trade in the Madrid workshop of Manuel Ramírez, where he worked alongside Santos Hernández, Modesto Borreguero and Enrique García – the shop that carried the legacy of Antonio de Torres into the 20th century. After Ramírez died in 1916, Esteso went on building for his widow, already with his own name on the labels, and around 1919 he opened his own workshop at Calle Gravina 7, where his wife, Nicolasa Salamanca, varnished the guitars. His flamencos were played by the great names of the day, among them Ramón Montoya and Niño Ricardo, and his classical guitars are prized today for their elegance, clarity and natural, woody voice.

Guitars for Buenos Aires and the Birth of the Conde Dynasty

Many of Esteso's finest guitars were made for Argentina, then one of the richest countries in the world, under a special label for Romero y Fernández of Buenos Aires, his sole agents there – some of them branded "Guitarras Iberia". In 1926 his nephew Faustino Conde joined the workshop, followed by his brothers Mariano and Julio. After Esteso's death in Madrid in 1937, in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, they carried on at Gravina 7 as "Viuda y Sobrinos de Esteso" and later as Conde Hermanos – the start of a family tradition continued today by Felipe Conde and his son, Felipe Conde Crespo.