Primzither

Alternate name(s)

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

Date1880-1900 ca.

Place MadeGermany, Europe

ModelSalzburg form

Serial No.none

SignedSoundhole label: noneDescriptionStrings: 30 strings (2 missing); 5 melody strings, 25 accompaniment strings
Body:
Top: spruce with rosewood veneer; black-stained pearwood pin block
Back: black-painted spruce
Sides: hardwood with rosewood veneer, grain running vertically
Edging: 3-ply varnished maple and pearwood purfling with black-painted pearwood binding surrounding soundboard and pin block; single-ply varnished maple purfling edging sides
Soundhole: oval soundhole centered on soundboard; 3-ply varnished maple and pearwood purfling with black-painted pearwood binding
Fretboard: black-stained pearwood with 27 nickel silver frets including zero fret; double mother-of-pearl inlaid dot position markings located behind fifth, ninth, and twelfth frets; single mother-of-pearl inlaid dot position marking located behind seventeenth fret; eighteenth fret half length, twentieth fret quarter length
Nut: black-painted hardwood with silver-plated copper wire saddle; saddle “staple” attached at end nearest fretboard
Bridge: black-painted hardwood with silver-plated copper wire saddle for accompaniment strings “staple” attached at end nearest fretboard; nickel silver fret saddle for melody strings; slots cut into hand rest where strings wrap over end of instrument and attach to silver-plated silver hitchpins
Tuning Pins: 30 polished steel tuning pins
Table-top Rests:
3 ball-shaped bone rests on back with steel needle points on back (point missing from rest on curvilinear side)
DimensionsBody: 495 mm long, 247 wide
Fretboard: 327 mm long, 52 mm wide
Melody string vibrating length: 390 mm
Highest chord string vibrating length: 393 mm
Lowest chord string vibrating length: 445 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.

Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979

Object number04272

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