Piccolo Banjo

Unknown

ca. 1900 · Cherry and maple wood, various materials · Musical Instruments

This piccolo banjo is a "Bay State" brand made by the John C. Haynes Co., a major music wholesaler and the largest stringed instrument manufacturer in Boston, MA., at the end of the 19th century. By the 1880s the banjo had become fashionable as an amateur parlor instrument. With its popularity came the craze for banjo orchestras, in which a series of banjos of different sizes and pitches were played ensemble style. With its short fingerboard and rim measuring only 7" in diameter, the piccolo banjo was tuned an octave higher than the standard banjo and was the highest pitched instrument in the banjo orchestra.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1900

Medium

Cherry and maple wood, various materials

Culture

American

Department

Musical Instruments

Credit line

The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889