Set of medium viola strings owned by Bo Diddley: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Small plastic package containing eight violin strings housed in paper envelopes. Envelopes are from several different brands. Three of the strings are housed in purple, white, and brown envelopes that have type drawn in an artistic fashion. Another three strings are housed in yellow and black envelopes with the brand name "Fisoma". One string is housed in a white and blue envelope and was manufactured by "GHS Corporation". One string is house in a blue and white envelope featuring an illustration of a gem.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: mid 20th century
• Manufactured by: Thomastik-Infeld, Austrian, founded 1919
• Owned by: Bo Diddley, American, 1928 - 2008
• Type: strings (chordophone components)
• Medium: metal with plastic and paper
• Dimensions: 4 1/2 × 4 1/2 × 1/2 in. (11.4 × 11.4 × 1.3 cm)
• Place used: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Blues (Music)
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Topic: Rock and roll (Music)
• Object number: 2013.177.1.4
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.