American Five-String Fretless Banjo: Museum Object and Cultural History
American Five-String Fretless Banjo: date made: 1878-1882. 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 1878-1882. It is a Five-String Fretless Banjo, with 9 brackets with eagles and 1 bracket with a shield (replacement), and a metal covered wood hoop. The brackets are similar to those on commercially-made banjos available through musical instruments distributors such as J. Howard Foote. This instrument was rebuilt by Kyle Creed of Galax, Virginia around 1965.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: 1878-1882
- Object Name: banjo
- Physical Description: wood (overall material)
- Physical Description: metal (overall material)
- Physical Description: animal skin (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 34 1/2 in x 11 in x 2 1/2 in; 87.63 cm x 27.94 cm x 6.35 cm
- place made: United States: Virginia, Galax
- ID Number: MI.70.21
- catalog number: 70.21
- accession number: 290542
- 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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