Object Details
- patentee
- Talbott, Sylvanus J.
- Description
- This violin was patented by Sylvanus J. Talbott of Milford, New Hampshire in 1887, U.S. Patent #375,224. The patent application describes an instrument with “a number of strings,” fitted over a tapering cylindrical body with flat back. In Talbott’s Patent, he describes the instrument saying “I preferably use 15 strings,” although the patent model itself bears 16. The instrument is very similar in style to the Chinese la ch’in. There are two identical instruments in the collections of the Musical Division of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City and the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota. Catalog #4821 in the National Music Museum collections bears an oval stamp: "PATENTED / ALEXANDER / VIOLIN/ Dec. 20th 1887."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Mrs. John Crosby Brown
- 1887 - 1890
- ID Number
- MI.231114
- catalog number
- 231114
- accession number
- 42736
- patent number
- 375,224
- Object Name
- violin
- Physical Description
- wood, pine (body material)
- metal, iron (tuning pins material)
- wood, maple (foot material)
- Measurements
- overall: 23 1/4 in x 5 1/2 in x 3 in; 59.055 cm x 13.97 cm x 7.62 cm
- body: 17 7/8 in; 45.4025 cm
- Place Made
- United States: New Hampshire, Milford
- See more items in
- Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
- Music & Musical Instruments
- Violins
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_605656
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a4-3fec-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
