The fiddle
Bulgaria, 1868
wood, plastic, animal skin
gouging, cutting, binding
length = 65,8 cm,
body = 17,5 x 24,3 cm
length of the strings = 47,2 cm
length of the neck = 41,5 cm
POH-419/1920
The Collection of Musical instruments by Franjo Ksaver Kuhač
The fiddle ends with a figure of a stork’s head with a red beak and eyes. The resonance box is covered with animal skin which is damaged and over half is missing. There is a hole at the top of the neck into which a wooden tuning peg is wedged, to which a plastic string is tied, however the string is not the original one but was added subsequently.
There is a piece of paper inside the resonance box which says:
“The gusle from Bulgaria from 1868. somewhat damaged by an earthquake”