Camillo Mandelli, also known as “da Calco,” was born in the town of the same name in the province of Como in 1873. Trained as a carpenter, Mandelli came into contact with the Antoniazzi brothers and Leandro Bisiach in the last decade of the 19th century. In 1899, however, he emigrated to Argentina, where he lived until 1920. After his return, he continued to collaborate with the Bisiach workshop but also made instruments independently.
The models he used are therefore typically Milanese, with rather short and small corners; the sound holes are usually positioned at a fairly steep angle. The scroll is also reminiscent of Giuseppe Pedrazzini's style, but the pegbox has a distinctive shape with a bulge at the bottom.
