Lotus 6-String
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.George Harrison commissioned this acoustic guitar from the British luthier Tony Zemaitis. It features a jumbo-size rounded body with flower-petal–shaped wooden inlays around the sound hole. Harrison ordered this six-string model as well as a twelve-string version and used them extensively for his solo work in the latter half of the 1970s. He appears with this guitar in the video for “Faster” from the album George Harrison (1979).
Technical Description:
Flat top with round sound hole; spruce top, mahogany back and sides, ebony fingerboard; 25 in. scale; natural finish with black binding and flower-shaped marquetry around sound hole; set neck with mother-of-pearl dot and “om” inlays; engraved metal plates on headstock; curved mahogany bridge, nickel tuners
Technical Description:
Flat top with round sound hole; spruce top, mahogany back and sides, ebony fingerboard; 25 in. scale; natural finish with black binding and flower-shaped marquetry around sound hole; set neck with mother-of-pearl dot and “om” inlays; engraved metal plates on headstock; curved mahogany bridge, nickel tuners
Artwork Details
- Title: Lotus 6-String
- Artist: Tony Zemaitis (Lithuanian, London 1935–2002 Tokyo, Japan)
- Artist: George Harrison (British, Liverpool, 1943–2001 Los Angeles)
- Date: 1974
- Medium: Spruce, mahogany, ebony, metal, mother-of-pearl
- Dimensions: Length: ~42 in. (106.7 cm)
Width: ~17 in. (43.2 cm)
Depth: ~4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm)
Weight: 5-6 lbs. - Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted
- Credit Line: Courtesy of the Harrison Estate
- Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments