Tenor banjo
Maker
Vega Company
Date1922 ca.
Place MadeBoston, Massachusetts, United States, North America
ModelLittle Wonder
Serial No.48801
SignedStamped into dowel stick: VEGA [inside a circle inside a star]; FAIRBANKS BANJO / MADE BY / THE VEGA COMPANY / BOSTON, MASS; VEGA [inside a circle inside a star]; LITTLE WONDERMarkingsStamped onto bridge in black ink: GROVER NONTIP
Stamped onto back of calf-skin head in black ink: Jos Rogers Jr. [in cursive text] / MADE IN U.S.A. / 1st Quality, Warranted
Stamped into side of dowel stick: 48801
Stamped into tailpiece: NO KNOT / PAT. NOV. 19 / 1901
Stamped onto treble side of calf-skin head, visible at flesh hoop: [T]his head is made by expert workmen from the bo[dy]…
There is evidence of text having been stamped onto the calf-skin head at the tailpiece, but it is faded past the point of legibility.
DescriptionNeck: maple with dark-brown-stained maple center stripe
Peghead: maple with dark-brown-stained maple center stripe; integral with neck; brown-stained maple veneer on face
Fingerboard: dark-brown-stained maple with ivory binding with ebony trim; 17 nickel-silver bar frets; single dot mother-of-pearl inlays behind 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th frets
Heel cap: three-ply brown-stained maple/maple/dark-brown-stained maple
Head: calf skin
Tone ring: nickel-plated brass
Rim: half-spun six-ply maple plywood with nickel-plated brass overlay; imitation tortoiseshell celluloid stripe around outer circumference; outer edge painted black
Bracket hooks: 28 nickel-plated steel
Shoes: 28 nickel-plated brass
Tension hoop: nickel-plated brass
Armrest: none
Resonator: none – open back
Dowel stick: maple
Nut: bone
Tuners: four nickel-plated brass tension tuners with ivoroid heads
Tailpiece: nickel-plated brass
Finish: clear lacquer
DimensionsTotal instrument length: 731 mm (28-25/32”)
Vibrating string length: 499.5 mm (19-21/32”)
Fingerboard length: 320 mm (12-19/32”)
Fingerboard width at nut: 31 mm (1-7/32”)
Fingerboard width at body: 41 mm (1-5/8”)
Calf-skin head diameter: 272 mm (10-23/32”)
Back diameter: 272 mm (10-23/32”)
Rim depth: 67 mm (2-5/8”)
ProvenanceOwned and played by James Scribner Canning (1880-1965).
Published References"Canning Family Donates Key Banjo Collection," The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter, XVI, No. 1 (October 1988), p. 3.
"1988 Acquisitions at USD Music Museum," Newsletter of the American Musical Instrument Society, XVII, No. 1 (February 1989), p. 10.
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Scribner Canning, in memory of his mother & father, Claire Hawthorne and James Scribner Canning, 1988
Object number04376
On View
Not on view
