Stenkjondalen Hardanger Fiddle
date: label: date made
content: 1870
name: label: maker
content: Stenkjondalen, Ellef Johnsen
notes: label: Description
content: <p>This hardanger fiddle was made by Ellef Johnsen Stenkjondalen in Bø, Norway, in 1870. It is made of a three-piece table of cedar, back of plain birch in two pieces, and ribs of similar birch. The plain birch neck is terminated in an ornamented pegbox and stylized carved dragon head with a semi-opaque orange-brown varnish. The veneered fingerboard (made of either ebony or horn) and tailpiece are decorated <i>en suite</i>. The instrument has four bowed and four sympathetic strings. The fiddle was donated with the bow cataloged as MI.381919a. There is a handwritten label inside the instrument:</p>
label: Description
content: <p>Fabrikeret af<br>Ellef Johnsen Stenkjondalen<br>Bo’ Pgd. 1870.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>Ellef Johnsen Steintjonndalen (Stenkjondalen) lived from 1821 to 1876 in the small community of Bø in Telemark and was the second son of the fiddle maker John Eriksen Helland. In the 19th century the Helland-Steintjonndalen family developed the style of hardanger fiddle that became a dominating standard for all makers. The elaborate fine line ink ornaments with inlaid mother-of-pearl on table, back, and tailpiece on this instrument represent the fully developed style of this family of makers. Knut G. (1880-1919) and Gunnar G. Helland (1885-1976) went to Chippawa Falls, Wisconsin, operating a violin and hardingfele business from 1909 to 1924. Gunnar moved to Fargo, North Dakota in 1929, retiring in 1962 at the age of 77.</p>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: Norway: Telemark, Bø
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Violins
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mary E. Maxwell
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MI.381919
label: accession number
content: 160028
label: catalog number
content: 381919
objectType: label: Object Name
content: hardanger fiddle
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: bone (decoration material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (decoration material)
label: Physical Description
content: mother of pearl (decoration material)
label: Physical Description
content: varnish (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cedar (table material)
label: Physical Description
content: birch (back material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 24 1/4 in x 8 in x 4 3/8 in; 61.595 cm x 20.32 cm x 11.1125 cm