Taos Folk Fiddle: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This folk fiddle was made in the Taos area of New Mexico around the 1920s. This folk fiddle comes from the Taos region of New Mexico. According to its previous owner, this fiddle was used in the village of Truchas by the Penitentes brotherhood to accompany sung prayers (alabados). The wooden case made for this instrument is lined with commercial fabric from the 1920s. The instrument with a long rectangular “box” body bears ornamental “S” sound-holes on the table. The neck is terminated in a plain, flat peg-head with four pegs. This violin is made of wood, painted black overall. The neck is reinforced with a metal plate at the top block area.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1915-1925
• Object Name: fiddle
• Physical Description: wood (part material)
• Physical Description: metal (part material)
• Physical Description: paint, lacquer (part material)
• Measurements: overall: 27 3/4 in x 4 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in; 70.485 cm x 11.4935 cm x 4.445 cm
• Place Made: United States: New Mexico, Truchas
• ID Number: 1981.0181.01
• accession number: 1981.0181
• catalog number: 1981.0181.01
• 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.