American Five-String Fretless Banjo: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This banjo was made by an unknown maker in Tennessee around 1925-1960. It is a Five-String Bnajo, made from two wood round discs separated by a smaller wood disc. Ten carriage bolts connect the two large discs together. The neck and peghead are carved from a single piece of wood and attached to the body with a carriage bolt. Animal skin is stretched over a wood ring and inserted into the hole in the top disc to serve as a banjo head. The tailpiece is made from a piece of metal and is secured by a bolt.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1925-1960
• unspecified: Maxwell Fund, Mary E.
• Object Name: banjo
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 36 1/2 in x 12 3/4 in x 2 in; 92.71 cm x 32.385 cm x 5.08 cm
• Measurements: overall: 36 1/4 in x 12 5/8 in x 2 5/8 in; 92.075 cm x 32.0675 cm x 6.6675 cm
• place made: United States: Tennessee
• ID Number: MI.78.08
• accession number: 301219
• catalog number: 78.08
• 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.