H.E. Bailey 5 String Fretless Banjo (1881), original brown coffin case.

H.E. Bailey 5 String Fretless Banjo (1881), made in USA, natural finish, laminated rosewood and maple rim, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original brown coffin case.

This is a very interesting and attractive late-19th century American banjo, well made and somewhat diminutive with a short scale neck and smaller-than-average rim for the period. The carved dowel stick is signed in ink "H.E. Bailey" in script with the date 1881. We can find no reference to this name in relation to banjos, but the craftsmanship is quite good if definitely to a handmade standard. In the later 1880s Stewart sizing system this would have been ranked between a "Pony Concert" and a "Ladie's" size banjo with a just-over 8 1/2" rim and a 22" scale.

The thin rim is maple veneered with rosewood, fitted with early commercially made "Shield" shaped shoes, brass hooks and square nuts. The hoop is brass as well, and there is an additional brass strip pinned along the outside bottom edge of the rim. The neck is carved from what appears to be mahogany, slim at the nut with a very thin fretless rosewood fingerboard showing a dramatic sapwood stripe giving it a two-tone look. The heel is solid without the older angled cut-out under the board; a single brass star is inset into the fingerboard near where the 12th fret would be.

The headstock is carved to a fairly elaborate shape fitted with ebony violin tuners. The dowel is neatly carved with inlets in the center and back end, pinned with a wooden wedge at the neck end. The tailpiece and bridge are later pieces. This is a playable banjo in the 19th century style, small but good sounding, a pretty unique piece and remarkably complete for its age.

Overall length is 31 in. (78.7 cm.), 8 5/8 in. (21.9 cm.) diameter head, and 2 3/4 in. (7 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 22 in. (559 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/8 in. (35 mm.).

This instrument shows general wear consistent with being 145 years old but remains a playable banjo. The very thin furniture varnish finish on the rim is heavily worn; the neck has a heavier varnish coating and shows somewhat lighter wear. There is a small ancient screw hole in the dowel hear the signature, its purpose lost to history. The unplated brass parts have a lovely aged patina; all of the hooks and shoes appear original, a few of the nuts are not but are still period. A couple of the shim rings to the rim shoes are modern replacements.

The tailpiece, bridge and ebony neck shim are later, the tuners are all very old ebony violin pegs but not an exactly matched set. The fingerboard has some light divoting in the first position. The banjo is set up with a very old but not period skin head, and plays well with a surprisingly powerful sound. This lovely piece of playable history lives in the original wooden coffin case, lacking the handle but otherwise still quite functional. An old purchase receipt inside the case indicates the instrument was last bought in New York in 1988. Overall Very Good + Condition.