Stewart Five-String Banjo
date: label: date made
content: ca 1889
name: label: maker
content: Samuel Swain Stewart Co.
notes: label: Description
content: <p>This banjo was made by Samuel Swain Stewart Co. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about 1889. It is a Five-String Banjo, serial #6682, with a metal-covered wooden hoop, 26 metal brackets, dark wood veneered fretboard and peghead, with shell inlay, rosewood neck, carved heel, and friction pegs. The banjo’s dowel stick is stamped:</p>
label: Description
content: <p>TRADE<br>S.S.S. [in a peghead outline]<br>MARK</p>
label: Description
content: <p>(There is a metal plate on the dowel stick) stamped:</p>
label: Description
content: <p>S.S.STEWART<br>1889<br>PHILAD'A</p>
label: Description
content: <p>Samuel Swain Stewart was a noted banjoist, one of the most prolific makers and popularizers of the banjo during the late 19th century. He was a determined advocate of "finger-style" (today's <i>classic</i>) technique, as opposed to the traditional "stroke style" (today's <i>clawhammer</i> or <i>frailing</i>) technique.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>Through such writings as his pamphlet <i>The Banjo Philosophically. Its Construction, Its Capabilities, Its place as a Musical Instrument. Its possibilities, and Its Future,</i> he pursued a determined campaign to "elevate" the image of the banjo by disparaging and even denying its African American and minstrel show origins. He produced banjos in a wide range of styles and costs and was influential in creating the popular enthusiasm for fretted instrument clubs and orchestras which persisted into the 1930's.</p>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
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content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Banjos
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. Richard S. Tilton
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MI.73.27
label: accession number
content: 303139
label: catalog number
content: 73.27
objectType: label: Object Name
content: banjo
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 36 in x 11 3/4 in x 2 1/4 in; 91.44 cm x 29.845 cm x 5.715 cm