American Four-String Fretless Banjo
date: label: date made
content: 1850 - 1884
notes: label: Description
content: This banjo was made by an unknown maker in Marengo County, Alabama around 1850-1884. It is a Four-String Fretless Banjo. It was collected in in 1884 in Marengo County, Alabama by Dr. Edward Palmer for the Smithsonian's "frontier collection.” Although roughly made, with whittled tuning pegs and a tacked-on untanned animal skin head, the grooves worn into the fretless neck show that it was well used. The banjo is a typical example of many homemade instruments that used locally available materials to make instruments which could produce powerful results in the hands of a skilled musician.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Alabama, Marengo county
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: Banjos
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MI.075008
label: catalog number
content: 75008
label: accession number
content: 14145
objectType: label: Object Name
content: banjo
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: animal skin (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 35 in x 11 1/2 in x 2 3/4 in; 88.9 cm x 29.21 cm x 6.985 cm