Tuebner Bowed Zither: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This bowed zither was made by William A. Tuebner in Baltimore, Maryland, around 1891-1895. It is made of a two-piece arched table of walnut with stylized inverted f-holes and inlaid purfling, back of pine, veneered with rosewood, ribs of pine, veneered with rosewood bearing ornamental wood purfling inlays connecting table and back, a stained veneered wooden fingerboard with 29 metal frets, 5 mother-of-pearl eyes and ornamental colored wood edge inlay, a metal tuning machine with 4 mother-of-pearl tuners, 3 bone feet with metal points, a metal tailpiece fastened to body with 3 screws, and transparent varnish. There is a printed label inside the instrument:

Wm. Tuebner MANUFACTURER of Musical Stringed Instruments BALTIMORE

This instrument features U. S. Patent #459603, date September 15, 1891, by William A. Tuebner (Tuebnée) for a mechanical tuning device for holding and regulating pitch which can be adapted to a wide range of string instruments. The concept is demonstrated in use on this bowed zither in mandolin form.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1891 - 1895
• Object Name: Zither
• Physical Description: walnut (overall material)
• Physical Description: pine (overall material)
• Physical Description: rosewood (overall material)
• Physical Description: mother-of-pearl (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 20 7/8 in x 11 3/8 in x 2 3/8 in; 53.0225 cm x 28.8925 cm x 6.0325 cm
• Measurements: side: 1 1/4 in; 3.175 cm
• Measurements: vib string: 16 5/16 in; 41.43375 cm
• place made: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
• ID Number: MI.247692
• catalog number: 247692
• accession number: 47477
• 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.