Schramm Folk Fiddle: Museum Object and Cultural History
Schramm Folk Fiddle: date made: 1850-1875. maker: Schramm, George. Object Name: fiddle.
The object in the museum catalogue
This folk fiddle was made by George Schramm around 1850. A true homemade instrument, it is a “Cigar-Box Violin” of trapezoidal outline with small center bouts and crude f-holes. The table and back are flat and bear pastiche-filled channels in imitation of purfling. The pegbox and closed scroll are similarly fanciful in execution. The instrument is accompanied by a cardboard, paper-lined case. This violin is made of a two-piece table of pine, back of plain American sycamore in one piece, ribs of similar sycamore, plain maple neck, elongated pegbox and compact, deeply cut scroll with one volute, and a thick opaque reddish-brown varnish.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: 1850-1875
- maker: Schramm, George
- Object Name: fiddle
- Physical Description: pine (table material)
- Physical Description: sycamore (back material)
- Physical Description: maple (neck material)
- Measurements: overall: 25 in x 7 3/4 in x 2 1/4 in; 63.5 cm x 19.685 cm x 5.715 cm
- Place Made: United States
- ID Number: 1981.0530.07
- accession number: 1981.0530
- catalog number: 1981.0530.07
- 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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