Primzither

Alternate name(s)

Alpine zither
Zither, Alpine, fretboard, accompaniment, bass, and sub-bass strings
Concert zither

Date1880 ca.

Place MadeMittenwald, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

ModelSalzburg form

Serial No.none

SignedSoundhole label: rectangular blue paper label; double line silver border with decorative corners; within border in silver script printed: [illegible] / MITTENWALD in BAYERN.
MarkingsTraces of newspaper printed in German visible above label in soundhole, presumably used to repair crack on back of instrument.
DescriptionStrings: 30 strings; 5 melody strings, 25 accompaniment strings
Body:
Top: spruce with rosewood veneer
Back: spruce with rosewood veneer
Sides: hardwood with rosewood veneer, grain running vertically
Edging: 5-ply alternating varnished maple and brown-stained hardwood purfling surrounding soundboard; dark-stained pearwood binding; single ply varnished maple purfling edging pin block; 3-ply varnished maple purfling edging sides; 3-ply varnished maple purfling surrounding back
Soundhole: circular soundhole centered on soundboard with 3-ply varnished maple purfling border; dark-stained pearwood binding
Fretboard: dark-stained pearwood with 30 nickel frets including zero fret; paper label covering first fifteen frets with each fret tuning per string handwritten in pencil; single mother-of-pearl inlaid dot position marking behind seventeenth fret; nineteenth fret three quarter length, twenty fourth and twenty sixth frets quarter length
Nut: dark-stained pearwood with silver-plated copper staple saddle
Bridge: black-painted pearwood with copper wire staple saddle for accompaniment strings and brass staple saddle for melody strings; slots cut into hand rest where string wrap over body and attach to hitchpins
Tuning Pins: 30 polished steel square tuning pins
Table-top Rests: 3 ball-shaped bone rests on back; steel points worn down on each rest
DimensionsBody: 486 mm long, 305 mm wide
Fretboard: 330 mm long, 55 mm wide
Melody string vibrating length: 385 mm
Highest chord string vibrating length: 385 mm
Lowest chord string vibrating length: 432 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.

Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979

Object number00835

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