Dobson Five-String Banjo: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This banjo was made by Henry C. Dobson of New York, New York around 1877. It is a Five-String Banjo, with 19 frets, 22 brackets, walnut neck, rosewood veneer hoop and resonator. The banjo is stamped on the bottom of the neck:

This instrument features U.S. Patent #66810 dated July 13, 1867, by Henry C. Dobson, for an improvement in securing the banjo head to the rim. This method of tightening the head with vertical screws from above is similar to that seen in a banjo by George Teed, and later, in some “Top Tensioning” banjos made by The Gibson Company.

Attached to the inside of the resonator is a printed label and instruction sheet signed: “#1424 Henry C. Dobson…1877.”

Henry C. Dobson and his family were among the most active players and popularizers of the banjo in the early stages of its commercialization. They were influential in the transition from fretless to fretted fingerboards and the use of resonators and more complicated “tone ring” supports for the head. Some of Dobson’s instruments were actually made by the Buckbee Company in New York City.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: ca 1877
• maker: Dobson, Henry C.
• Object Name: banjo
• Physical Description: rosewood (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Physical Description: animal skin (overall material)
• Physical Description: walnut (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 37 1/2 in x 13 in x 3 1/4 in; 95.25 cm x 33.02 cm x 8.255 cm
• Measurements: overall: 37 in x 13 in x 4 in; 93.98 cm x 33.02 cm x 10.16 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York City
• ID Number: MI.67.009
• catalog number: 67.009
• accession number: 272556
• Credit Line: Gift of Hermann W. Williams, Jr.
• 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.