An unusually large group of cellos and 1/4 basses joined the Registry in August, among them this relatively rare 100, marketed as the Artist.

Offered only in 1938 and ’39, the 100 and 100B were the only Maestro-series cellos for the prewar period, pitched below the Supreme-series 201 and 165, with some appointments from the Supreme series (ebony fingerboard, edge purfling) and one detail from the O-100, the rear center stripe. 4/4 only, about 325 made, including about 50 blondes.

The model designations of prewar cellos were set by their introduced retail prices in ’37 or ’38, a practice that extended to the bass side only with the 89.