YEAR: circa 1890's

S/N: none

ABOUT THE GUITAR:
"I saw this guitar on eBay and thought interesting mainly because listing said it was “Rare Brazilian Rosewood back and sides” - it was $300 so I thought, if nothing else, it would be a great wall hanger. When I received it I was pleasantly surprised as it was somewhat playable.

I decided to take it to one of my luthiers, Daniel Kirkland, at Guitar Sanctuary for some surgery:

In order to make this instrument playable and enjoyable by modern standards it had to be updated and converted to an x-bracing pattern. Thankfully when the guitar was first built over 100+ years ago the top was made to a proper thickness that would work well for a steel string instrument.

The guitar was entirely disassembled. This included removing the back, neck, fingerboard, aas well as all of the old braces and reinforcement. One thing I wanted to avoid was using fresh new wood for the braces, as that would look too clean and new for the age of the guitar. What I did instead was take a slightly larger sacrificial guitar made in the early 30s and remove all the braces. Luckily this donor guitar had been made rather heavy and the braces were large enough to cut new braces from. These new/old braces were profiled, prepared, and then installed in the parlor. The new bracing pattern is based on early X bracing designs that were reviewed via photographs and then transferred to the parlor.

The result was that a previously derelict guitar was reconstructed into a wonderful, pleasant little instrument. The old wood coupled with the new bracing pattern allows the guitar to speak, even bark, louder than it ever could have as it was previously."

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
below is the Ebay Ad I responded to:
Vintage 1800's William Tonk & Bros Brazilian Rosewood Parlor Guitar & Coffin HSC
THE CLEO GUITAR, New York.  WT&B ebay for 305.00
Very unusual little guitar.   They said it was from 1890.  I don't know for sure... this certainly could be that old... but I have no way to be sure.  The label inside is torn.... but you can still read some of it.. here is what the label says:  THE CLEO GUITAR, New York.  WT&B
The guy I got it from replaced the fretboard... 12th fret is a little crooked. some of the pieces of the original are in the case.  
There are a few cracks in the guitar.  There is a little warp in the neck.... but it plays pretty well.  
Rare Brazilian Rosewood back and sides.... Spruce top, Ladder braced.  Appears the tailpiece is changed.  Not sure about bridge and tuners. … the little pieces of wood are from inside the guitar... they are braces that glue on the sides.   The inside of the guitar is a work of handmade craftsmanship.  
.... has need of work... cracks... set up work needed..etc....  sold as-is.