Appalachian Dulcimer: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This Appalachian dulcimer was made by an unknown maker in the United States, between 1875 to 1925. It is a single-bout dulcimer made of reddish-brown stained wood, with three strings (one melody string and two drone strings), wood bridge and nut, 17 metal frets, 3 round sound holes on fretboard, 2 wooden friction pegs (one missing), carved out pegbox, and carved violin-like head.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1875 - 1925
• Object Name: dulcimer
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 3 7/16 in x 5 1/2 in x 34 1/2 in; 8.73125 cm x 13.97 cm x 87.63 cm
• place made: United States
• ID Number: MI.76.02
• catalog number: 76.02
• accession number: 317885
• Credit Line: Gift from the Estate of Sam Eskin (through Otho Evans Eskin and Stanley Eskin)
• 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.