Violin Fingerboard Patent Model: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This keyed fingerboard was patented by William Robertson of New York, New York on November 8, 1853 and received U.S. Patent number 10,213. Robertson’s invention is for a mechanical-keyed fingerboard that is placed over the strings of a normal violin to assist amateurs. The fingerboard has thirty-two buttons that can be depressed to change pitch without bringing the fingers directly in contact with the strings. The instrument is a commercial Mirecourt violin with heavily crazed varnish made around 1850. This violin is made of a two-piece table of spruce, two-piece back of maple with even medium-fine gently descending figure, ribs of similar maple, plain field maple neck, pegbox and scroll, and a semi-opaque yellow-orange varnish.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1853
• patentee: Robertson, William
• Object Name: violin
• Object Type: Patent Model
• Physical Description: spruce (table material)
• Physical Description: maple (back material)
• Measurements: overall: 23 1/2 in x 8 in x 2 3/4 in; 59.69 cm x 20.32 cm x 6.985 cm
• Place Made: United States: New York, New York City
• ID Number: MI.66.094
• catalog number: 66.094
• accession number: 249602
• patent number: 10213
• 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. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation.