Clapper Fiddle
Object Details
- Description
- This fiddle was made in Middle Appalachia in the first half of the 20th century. This instrument is unique in its design and construction, incorporating a wooden clapper extending from beneath the end of
- the fingerboard. The clapper is free to vibrate against the top of the fiddle, presumably created to add a buzzing or percussion effect to accompany the tune being played. The narrow body and design of
- the tailpiece has no apparent accommodation for holding the fiddle between the performer's shoulder and chin.
- The donor of the instrument, Mr. Wallace Kuralt, bought it at a flea market in North Carolina in the 1960s. He believes the proprietor bought the fiddle from another flea market source in or around the border between New Hope, Pennsylvania and Lambertville, New Jersey. The provenance of the instrument is most likely a rural community in the mid-Atlantic region of the east coast of the United States.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Wallace Kuralt
- 1900-1950
- ID Number
- 1992.0517.01
- accession number
- 1992.0517
- catalog number
- 1992.0517.01
- Object Name
- fiddle
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 23 in x 3 1/2 in x 4 in; 58.42 cm x 8.89 cm x 10.16 cm
- Place Made
- United States
- See more items in
- Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
- Music & Musical Instruments
- Violins
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_606945
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a4-4b9d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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