Appalachian Dulcimer: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This Appalachian dulcimer was possibly made by W. Hamber in North Carolina, between 1835 and 1865. It is a single-bout dulcimer, with two strings (one melody string and one drone string), 15 frets, metal nut and bridge, 6 round sound holes, friction pegs, carved out pegbox, and a rounded head with chamfered edge. There is a paper label on the back of the instrument that has writing that is too faded to read.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1835 - 1865
• Object Name: dulcimer
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 3 1/2 in x 6 3/8 in x 31 3/4 in; 8.89 cm x 16.1925 cm x 80.645 cm
• place made: United States: North Carolina
• ID Number: MI.66.158
• catalog number: 66.158
• accession number: 272601
• 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.