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Streichmelodeon

late 19th century
Not on view
The streichmelodeon is a bowed stringed instrument related to a streich zither (see Met number 89.4.998). It was invented by Leopold Breit of Brno in 1856 and became popular throughout Moravia, Germany, and Austria. The instrument is held in the lap or placed on a table, with the lower portion of the instrument positioned so that it is free to bow between the bridge and fingerboard. The strings are tuned to traditional alpine zither tuning, the reverse of the traditional violin.


Description: roughly violin-shaped, four strings, twenty-seven raised nickel-silver frets of which three are partial, machine head tuners, two f-holes, three spiked ivory feet (two on back of body, one on the back of the headstock), eight mother-of-pearl inlaid position markers in the ebony fingerboard.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Streichmelodeon
  • Date: late 19th century
  • Geography: Germany
  • Culture: German
  • Medium: Wood, metal
  • Dimensions: Length 57.7 cm
    Greatest width 26.3 cm
    Depth at edge +/-4.0 cm
    Sounding length of strings 34.8 cm
  • Classification: Chordophone-Zither-bowed
  • Credit Line: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
  • Object Number: 89.4.1899
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments

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