Gourd head banjo
- Created by
- Unidentified
- Date
- ca. 1859
- Medium
- gourd with wood and metal
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 7 × 26 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (17.8 × 67.3 × 6.4 cm)
- Caption
- This gourd banjo illustrates an earlier style of banjo played by African Americans who used local sources to create their instruments. When in use it would have had a piece of skin stretched across its opening and four strings running from the tuning pegs to the metal tailpiece still attached.
- Description
- Banjo constructed with a gourd head. There are four (4) tuning pegs, some chipped, in the headstock. One (1) wire is strung along the banjo. Two (2) other strings are connected to the tailpiece but are loose over the gourd. There are frets on the neck. The round gourd has linear decoration around the edge. There is a tin tailpiece at the bottom anchoring the strings. There are scratches on the back of the gourd.
- Cultural Place
- West Africa, Africa
- Place made
- United States, North and Central America
- Place collected
- Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Slavery and Freedom Objects
- Musical Instruments
- Type
- banjos
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2017.108.19
- Restrictions & Rights
- No Known Copyright Restrictions
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.