Altzither

Alternate name(s)

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

Date1862-1884 ca.

Place MadeMunich, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

ModelSalzburg form

Serial No.none

SignedSoundhole label: purple plaque-shaped paper label with green double line gold border; label decorated with green foliage and 6 gold medallions; first medallion in black printed: 1862 LONDINI / HONORIS / CAUSA; second medallion in black printed: MAXMILLIAN II / KOENIG V. BAYERN; fourth medallion in black printed: EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE DE; fifth medallion in black printed: NAPOLEON III / EMPEREUR; sixth medallion in black printed: AUSSTELL: DEUTSCHER INDUST: II.GEWERSS – ERZEUCH MUNCHEN 1854 coat of arms with red drapery centered on top of label; underneath coat of arms on gold ribbon in white printed: J. HASLWANTER; underneath ribbon in white printed: K. Hof-Zithernfabrikant / u. Saiten Instrumentenmacher / MÜNCHEN; on gold border in black fine print written: WILH. MENGER STUTTGART [label printer]MarkingsBehind first fret, die stamped: J. HASLWANTER / MUNICH.DescriptionStrings: 30 strings; 5 melody strings, 25 accompaniment strings
Body:
Top: spruce with black-painted rosewood veneer; black-painted pearwood veneer
Back: black-painted spruce
Sides: hardwood with dark rosewood veneer, grain running vertically
Edging: 3-ply varnished maple and pearwood purfling surrounding soundboard; pearwood binding; single-ply varnished maple purfling surrounding pin block; 2-ply varnished maple purfling edging sides
Soundhole: oval soundhole centered on soundboard; 3-ply varnished maple and pearwood purfling with dark-stained pearwood binding edging soundhole
Fretboard: black-stained pearwood with 30 nickel silver frets including zero fret; 2 white celluloid inlaid dot position markings located behind fifth, ninth, twelfth and seventeenth frets; single white celluloid inlaid dot position marking located behind fifteenth fret; eighteenth fret three quarter length, twenty third fret half length, twenty fifth fret quarter length
Nut: black-painted pearwood with nickel silver wire saddle
Bridge: black-painted pearwood with nickel silver wire saddle for accompaniment strings and nickel silver wire saddle for melody strings; slots cut into hand rest where strings wrap over body and attach to hitchpins
Decoration: inlaid mother-of-pearl, abalone, copper, and brass design located on soundboard above soundhole on curvilinear side; design engraved and filled with black ink; design depicts standing cherub holding a zither; cherub accented with flowing ribbon and flanked on left and right sides with floral accents with inlaid flower heads and inlaid brass flower stems and leaves
Tuning Pins: 30 blued steel rectangular tuning pins
Table-top Rests: 3 ball-shaped bone rests with steel needle points
DimensionsBody: 610 mm long, 250 mm wide
Fretboard: 425 mm long, 55 mm wide
Melody string vibrating length: 510 mm
Highest chord string vibrating length: 512 mm
Lowest chord string vibrating length: 553 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.

Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979

Object number03200

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