Josh White Model Guitar and case owned by Josh White
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1966
name: label: Manufactured by
content: Ovation Guitar Company, American, founded 1965
label: Owned by
content: Josh White, American, 1914 - 1969
label: Subject of
content: James H. Rickard, American, died 1996
notes: label: Description
content: 2021.107ab: A Josh White Model Guitar (a) custom made by Ovation Instruments with an accompanying case (b) for Josh White.
label: Description
content: 2021.107a: Josh White Model Guitar custom made by Ovation Instruments for Josh White. The acoustic guitar has light colored, spruce, top wood and a black, semi-parabolic body. Around the edges of the sound hole is a rosette: a black circular band inlaid with a tn, mother of pearl, foliate pattern. The front of the neck is dark wood with inlaid mother of pearl fret markers shaped like notched diamonds and dots. A handwritten signature in gold ink, [Josh White], is written across the center of the headstock. At the top of the headstock is a gold printed logo for Ovation Instruments: the text [Ovation] with the first letter [O] printed in relief inside a stylized graphic of a guitar. The sides of the headstock are engraved with an ornate spiral pattern. Attached to the nuts are six, carved, white tuning pegs. The back of the neck is medium toned wood with two, thin bands of light tone wood running vertically down the center. The guitar has six steel guitar strings. There are three vertical cracks extending from the base of the bridge to the bottom edge of the guitar and three brown striated marks to the left of the rosette, near the waist. The interior of the body is black. Inside the sound hole is a white paper adhesive manufacturer’s label form. At the top of the label is the logo for Ovation: [Ovation Instruments / BLOOMFIELD, CONN.] with the first letter [O] in Ovation printed in relief inside a stylized graphic of a guitar printed in black and red text. Below is a short form with three lines that reads [Model ____________ / Serial ____________ / Approval ____________]. Printed black script text next to [Model] reads [Josh White]. Printed red and black text next to [Serial] reads [291 custom for Josh]. Printed black script text next to [Model] reads [J.H. Rickard]. Printed black text at the bottom left corner of the label reads [PAT. APPLIED FOR]. At the bottom of the body is a strap button.
label: Description
content: 2021.107b: An accompanying hard case for the Josh White Model Guitar made by Ovation Instruments for Josh White. The hard case is acoustic guitar shaped with a black exterior and soft-textured, yellow, wooly interior. The case has four brass latches and a black, leather texture carrying handle on one side. On the other side are three brass hinges. The far left and right sides also have round head tacks at the top and bottom to support the case when placed on the ground. The case has an interior support for the neck. Above the support is a storage compartment with a flap. Adhered to the inside of the flap are two white adhesive labels with black text that reads [OVATION #291 JOSH WHITE CUSTOM] and [OVATION 291].
place: label: Place made
content: Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Blues (Music)
label: Topic
content: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
label: Topic
content: Singers (Musicians)
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Musical Instruments
label: Exhibition
content: Musical Crossroads
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 053
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gene C. Feldman
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2021.107ab
objectType: label: Type
content: cases (containers)
label: Type
content: guitars
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No known copyright restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: 2021.107a: spruce with mahogany, rosewood, maple, German silver, bone, steel, silicone and fiberglass
label: Medium
content: 2021.107b: imitation leather on plywood with textile materials, brass (alloy) and metal
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (Guitar): 39 1/2 × 15 9/16 × 5 7/8 in. (100.4 × 39.5 × 15 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (Case): 43 1/8 × 17 1/2 × 7 5/16 in. (109.5 × 44.5 × 18.5 cm)