Violin played by the enslaved man Jesse Burke: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A violin (.1a) with a bow (.1b) stored in a wooden case (.2), all owned and played by Jesse Burke, who used the violin during and after enslavement.

The violin (.1a) has a reddish-brown stained wooden body, neck, peg box, and scroll. The pegs, fingerboard, and tailpiece are made of wood painted black. A small piece of mother of pearl is attached at the center top of each peg. The strings are made from steel. A paper label is adhered to the interior back of the violin body, which can be seen through the sound holes. Printed on the label in black text are the words: "Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonensis / Faciebat Anno 1726".

The bow (.1b) has a rod made from a dark-stained wood with a metal tension screw. The frog is made from wood painted black and inlaid with mother of pearl and a metal ferrule. The tip is edged with a panel of an ivory imitation material. The bow hair is made from horsehair, though the horsehair is broken with several strands still attached and extending from the tip in varying lengths.

The wooden case (.2) is painted black and has a hinged lid that opens with two (2) metal hinges. On the opening side are two (2) metal tension clasps with one (1) locking hinge at the center. There is a metal plate with a keyhole to the right of the center hinged lock. A metal handle is attached at either side of the keyhole plate. The interior of the bottom and the lid is lined with a red wool and cotton blend flannel. There are two flannel-covered wooden pieces at the wide side of the case that correspond to the center bouts on the body of the instrument and secure it in place inside the case. A loop of the flannel is sewn near the thin side of the lid, presumably to hold the bow.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1850-1860
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Jesse Burke, American, 1834 - 1909
• Type: bows (chordophone components)
• Type: violins
• Medium: Violin: wood, steel, and mother of pearl;
• Medium: Bow: wood, horsehair, metal, and mother of pearl;
• Medium: Case: wood, metal, and wool cotton blend flannel
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Violin): 3 × 24 × 8 1/4 in. (7.6 × 61 × 21 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Bow): 1 1/16 × 29 1/4 × 9/16 in. (2.7 × 74.3 × 1.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Case (closed)): 4 1/4 × 30 3/4 × 9 1/2 in. (10.8 × 78.1 × 24.1 cm)
• Place used: Lexa, Phillips County, Arkansas, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Slavery
• Object number: 2014.232.1ab-.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Donated by Shirley Burke, Great-Granddaughter, on Behalf of Jesse Burke's Descendants
• 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 displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.