Fretless tackhead banjo
Not on view
This beautiful American mid-19th century banjo is singular in its form and decoration. At the time this was made, the banjo was becoming popular with White musicians and audiences. The instrument has been in use within Black communities for more than a century, but in the middle of the nineteenth century, it was appropriated and became an instrument associated with minstrel music. This example has marquetry on both the fingerboard and on the enclosed back of the instrument.
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