Advanced Search 
Balalaika
19th century
Object Place: Russia
Medium/Technique
Spruce, pine
Dimensions
Length 63 cm, width 31.2 cm, depth 8.1 cm (Length 24 13/16 in., width 12 5/16 in., depth 3 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.1750
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionBody comprised of six ribs of spruce. Belly of medium-grain spruce. Neck and headstock of spruce. No separate fingerboard; five extant tied-on frets of gut. Tuning pegs, nut, and bridge of wood. Saddle of ebony. Three pegs of wood at lower end of body for fastening strings. Internal construction: Two lateral braces on belly (one above soundhole).
ProvenanceFrancis W. Galpin (1858-1945), Hatfield Regis, England; 1916, sold by Francis W. Galpin to William Lindsey (1858-1922), Boston, Massachusetts; 1916, gift of William Lindsey, in memory of his daughter, Leslie Lindsey Mason, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 5, 1916)