Nail Violin
Unknown Artist
early 19th century
Medium
Wood, metal
Dimensions
Total H. 13.5 cm., H. of wood arc and soundboard 4.7 cm., Diamter 23.5 cm.
Classification
Idiophone-Friction
Culture
German
Department
Musical Instruments
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
Accession Number
89.4.954
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments this early 19th *Nail Violin* exemplifies a quirky yet ingenious German folk instrument from the Romantic era. Crafted from wood and metal, it a compact design: a total height of 13.5 cm, with a wooden arc and soundboard rising 4.7 cm and a diameter of 235 cm. As an idiophone-friction, it produces ethereal, haunting tones not by striking or blowing, but by rubbing its metal elements—likely nails embedded in the wooden frame—with a moistened finger or rosined glove, creating shimmering overtones reminisce...