Streichzither
Alternate name(s)
- Streichmelodeon
- Zither, bowed melody strings, frets, leaf-shaped body, Alpine
- Bowed zither
- Alpine zither
Date1850-1880 ca.
Place MadeBavaria, Germany, Europe
Modelnone
Serial No.none
SignednoneMarkingsWritten in pencil on back: #167 / 7/16/0[6 or 4]
DescriptionConstruction as usual (long bridge between wrest plank and pin block, a cross rib above and one below the sound holes which have an oval shape. Top
and ribs with rosewood veneer, fingerboard ebony. 4 strings, 29 frets, 4 position dots for fourth, major sixth, octave and a quarter above it.
DimensionsOverall length: 487 mm
Width: 265 mm
Height of the body: ca. 28 mm
Inside (also ribs): ca. 24 mm
Fingerboard length: 330 mm
Vibrating string length: 387.5 mm
Width of the narrow end: ca. 48 mm
Although the structure does not follow proportions (except for those nclated (?) to the
symmetric layout) the measurements correspond to whole or half Zoll numbers of the
Munich foot (1”=24.3 mm):
Overall length: 20”
Width, maximum: 11”
Width, narrow end: 2”
Height inside: 1”
Vibrating string length: 16”
Fingerboard length: 13 ½”
The tolerances up to 2mm indicate that the model has been built already for a long time.
Besides it must be admitted that the instrument might be a copy made outside of Bavaria.
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.
Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Object number03197
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