American Five-String Fretless Banjo: Museum Object and Cultural History
American Five-String Fretless Banjo: date made: 1848-1855. Object Name: banjo. Physical Description: wood (overall material).
The object in the museum catalogue
This banjo was made by an unknown maker in the United States around 1848-1855. It is a Five-String Banjo with a walnut or mahogany shell, metal hoop, twelve brackets, rosewood neck with a unique silhouette below the 5th string tuner, an unusual rectangle-shaped peghead, friction pegs, and an early style machine peg for the 5th string.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: 1848-1855
- Object Name: banjo
- Physical Description: wood (overall material)
- Physical Description: metal (overall material)
- Physical Description: animal skin (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 36 1/2 in x 12 1/2 in x 3 in; 92.71 cm x 31.75 cm x 7.62 cm
- place made: United States
- ID Number: MI.380526
- catalog number: 380526
- accession number: 153640
- Credit Line: Gift of Frank E. Savale
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
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