Fretted banjo with two short strings

C. 1850

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 681

This unusual banjo has six strings, two of which are short and mounted on both edges of the fingerboard. It is a rare example of a Pre-Civil War banjo and at the time, banjos were not standardized, and each one is singular. The instrument was probably built by Henry Stichter of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, as the unusual peg head and other features of the instrument match a signed instrument by Stichter in a private collection. There are only a handful of banjos from the middle of the nineteenth century that can be attributed to a specific maker.

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.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Title: Fretted banjo with two short strings
Maker: Henry Stichter
Date: C. 1850
Geography: United States
Culture: American
Medium: Various woods, metal hardware, leather, calfskin head, calfgut strings
Dimensions: 44 in. Length x 4 in. Depth x 13 in. Diameter
Classification: Musical instruments
Credit Line: Gift of Peter Szego, 2024
Object Number: 2024.607.2a, b
Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments

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