5-string banjo

Date1930-1938 ca.

Place MadeUnited States, North America

Serial No.none

Signednone visible
MarkingsStamped onto device securing heel, rim, and dowel stick: PAT. PEND / W. M P CO
DescriptionNeck: bird’s-eye maple
Peghead: bird’s-eye maple with pearloid veneer; decorative black stencil on face [imitates traditional mother-of-pearl inlay designs]
Fingerboard: ebony with pearloid veneer; 22 nickel-silver frets [18 after 5th string]; black decorative stencils behind 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 17th frets
Heel cap: none
Head: calf skin
Tone ring: integral with metal rim overlay
Rim: full-spun maple with gray metal overlay
Bracket hooks: 38 nickel-plated steel
Shoes: 38 nickel-plated brass
Tension hoop: nickel-plated brass
Resonator: none
Dowel stick: mahogany
Top nut: missing
5th-string nut: bone
Tuners: 4 nickel-plated steel tension tuners with cast zinc heads; very dark brown wood 5th-string tuner has broken off
Tailpiece: missing
Finish: orange lacquer
DimensionsTotal instrument length: 935 mm (36-13/16”)
Total vibrating string length: 689 mm (27-1/8”) [all vibrating string length measurements are approximate – estimated from line drawn on calf-skin head which suggests bridge placement]
Vibrating length of 5th string: 518 mm (20-3/8”)
Total fingerboard length: 508 mm (20”)
Fingerboard length from 5th-string nut: 337 mm (13-9/32”)
Fingerboard width at top nut: 28 mm (1-3/32”)
Fingerboard width at 5th-string nut: 38 mm (1-1/2”)
Fingerboard width at body: 44 mm (1-23/32”)
Head diameter: 279 mm (10-31/32”)
Rim depth: 67 mm (2-5/8”)
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.

Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979

Object number03883

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