1880’s Fretless 5-String Banjo with Amazing Carving
1880’s Fretless 5-String Banjo with Amazing Carving. Looking at the front of this banjo you get the feeling of an early 1880’s New York City school fretless banjo. Then you flip it over and are wowed by the amazing carving going from the top of the peghead to the rim, featuring the words US Liberty, entwined in carved rope with a ship’s anchor. Well worth checking out the pictures to admire the skilled craftsman’s work. The neck itself appears to be walnut with a veneer fingerboard of an undetermined wood species. The heel appears to have a crack, but it is a seam separation from a stacked heel. The 3/16” thick rim appears to be maple and has an average diameter of 11-5/16”. The 12 shoes are all matching spread-eagle brass castings, but there are footprints in the finish that indicate there could have been 6 other shoes of a different shape creating an alternating pattern. The banjo rim has decals between most of the brackets with images that made one of us think they came from a Canterbury Tales decal sheet. The peghead has illegible words and a Madonna decal. At the rim end of the neck there is a horse head decal. Graffiti on the inside of the head has some illegible signatures and the words “Banjo Soloist”. The head also has a few small splits that make us recommend not tightening the head. We have never strung this banjo, but instead preferred to enjoy the artistry of the carving. We offer this rare, likely one-of-a kind instrument at $2,200 and include a chipboard case.