Preston English Guitar: Museum Object and Cultural History
Preston English Guitar: Date made: 1775 - 1799. maker: Preston, John. Object Name: english guitar.
The object in the museum catalogue
This guitar was made by John Preston of London, England around 1775-1799. It is a six course (4x2, 2x1) English guitar with a spruce top and figured maple back and sides. There is a decorative inlay cover over the soundhole and at the top of the pegbox. The guitar has a watch-key tuning device which was better suited to the guitar’s short metal strings. English guitars received great popularity with amateur musicians in Great Britain from about 1750 to 1810.
Materials, dates and provenance
- Date made: 1775 - 1799
- maker: Preston, John
- Object Name: english guitar
- Physical Description: spruce (top material)
- Physical Description: maple (back, sides, neck material)
- Physical Description: metal (strings material)
- Measurements: overall: 27 1/8 in x 11 1/2 in x 3 3/4 in; 68.8975 cm x 29.21 cm x 9.525 cm
- place made: United Kingdom: England, London
- ID Number: MI.381920
- accession number: 160028
- catalog number: 381920
- 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.
Sources
More in Music
Keep reading
