For enthusiasts of early banjo
Unidentified Banjo Player
From the Wellcome Library ,London "Described as follows by Jim Bollman, The Music Emporium, Lexington, Mass., in an e-mail to the Wellcome Library on 12 February 2001: "It is quite simply one of the most powerful 19th century banjo images that I've seen. ... Obviously it's a studio portrait but unless someone could identify the painted backdrop it's practically impossible to name the studio and thus ascertain the location. My suspicion is that it's American (the rustic chair is typical of Adirondack stick furniture). If the flag or pennant attached to the chair were more visible that could give us additional clues. I frankly don't know what to make of the rag dolls on the chair. Perhaps he made them himself and "hawked" them as a street peddlar. What I can tell you is that the fretless banjo is typical of the period 1850-1860s with scoop-neck, about 6 sets of hooks and nuts, "vertical" fifth peg, etc. The decoration in the fingerboard and matching tailpiece is unusual but not unique for the period (they do mark the fret positions on the board). I can't tell from the photo if the instrument has flush or scribed frets on the board or simply has the rectangular inlays to show the relative positions. It is simply conjecture but he could be a veteran amputee (American Civil War) who either had an act (stage or street) playing the banjo and using the rag dolls"
Views: 179
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Comment by Ian Bell on June 14, 2013 at 5:26pm
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Wow. He makes me think of Brownie McGhee. If he's a street musician the rag dolls might have been dancing figures - suspended from a string with one end tied to his (good) leg and the other end to something else (tree, peg in ground). When you move your leg they dance.
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Comment by Strumelia on June 14, 2013 at 8:03pm
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I too suspect these were dancing limberjack type dolls. I collect limberjacks. Many older ones were set up with mechanical contraptions, even little 'stages' so as to be powered by a foot/pedal while the musician sang and played.
Unfortunately the scan of this phot is not high resolution, so it's pixelated into little squares. We would be able to see much better detail in a hi-res scan of the original photo. Great image.
My impression- The 'pennant' may actually be a strap on a stick that's attached to a long spindle, which is I believe inserted into a little platform that the dolls dance on or rotate around, like dancing around a Maypole. The platform with dolls and spindle seems to be laid upon the chair. I wish it were easier to see! :-(
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