Hardanger Fiddle: Museum Object and Cultural History
Hardanger Fiddle: Date made: ca 1890. Object Name: hardanger fiddle. Physical Description: ink (decoration material).
The object in the museum catalogue
This hardanger fiddle was made by an unknown maker in Telemark, Norway, about 1890. It is made of a two-piece table of cedar, one-piece back of slab-cut birch with broad irregular figure descending to the left, ribs of plain birch, neck of plain birch is terminated in an ornamental pegbox and stylized carved dragon head, ink representation of decorative purfling, and transparent yellow varnish.
This instrument with four bowed and four sympathetic strings is generally in a very good state of preservation, with the original neck, tailpiece, pegs and interior body features intact. The fingerboard and tailpiece are decorated en suite with circular bone inlay forming diamond patterns.
Materials, dates and provenance
- Date made: ca 1890
- Object Name: hardanger fiddle
- Physical Description: ink (decoration material)
- Physical Description: bone (inlay material)
- Physical Description: cedar (table material)
- Physical Description: birch (back, ribs, neck material)
- Measurements: overall: 23 1/2 in x 7 3/4 in x 3 7/8 in; 59.69 cm x 19.685 cm x 9.8425 cm
- Place Made: Norway: Telemark
- ID Number: MI.380456
- catalog number: 380456
- accession number: 153000
- Credit Line: Gift of Mary E. Maxwell
- 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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