Instrument: banjo, fretless 19th century

Instrument: banjo, fretless 19th century

Banjo

Handicraft

Musical instruments

This fretless banjo is a example of a mid to late 19th-century hand-built instrument. There is no name of a maker on the headstock nor on the dowel rod inside the pot, but it is likely the banjo was made in the vicinity of Cherokee County. The crude tailpiece and friction pegs appear to be made by a non-professional. The six handmade brackets that hold the calfskin hide to the rim are tightened by means of a screw. The head was patched where a hole had been worn, and the patch is signed Sept. 9, 1907. Originally the banjo would have had gut strings, but this example is strung with nylon fishing monofilament. The very small size of this banjo indicates that it was made as a ladies parlor banjo or for a younger child.

Unknown

Artifact Collection

Hunter Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723

1880/1889

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

jpg;

crafts (art genres)

StillImage

13178

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/13178

2007-01-25

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Cherokee County (N.C.)

Appalachian Region, Southern

1.75" x 8" x 26.75"(dimension)

Craft Revival