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Folk violin
early 19th century
Object Place: United States, Possibly New England region
Medium/Technique
Maple, pine
Dimensions
Length 61 cm, width 20.6 cm (Length 24 in., width 8 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Anonymous gift
Accession Number1976.137
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionOne-piece back of maple with irregular curl. Ribs similar. Neck of plain maple. Crude scroll with little undercutting. Two-piece belly of wide irregular grain pine (?). No purfling. Three extant tuning pegs; one commercial of ebony, one homemade of hardwood, and one improvised from the head of a clothespin. Fingerboard of walnut (?). Commercial tailpiece of ebony with inlaid flower of mother-of-pearl. Nut and saddle of ebony. End button of hardwood. Red-brown varnish. Interior construction: Footed neck on shallow platform. Hemi-circular lower block. Regular type liners and corner blocks. Triangular-shaped bassbar.
Provenance1976, gift of Harold Priest, Harvard Massachusetts, to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 14, 1976)