Franz Schwarzer Concert Zither - Model 29

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Franz Schwarzer Concert Zither - Model 29

Post by Dave »

Mike Craven shared these photos and had a question regarding his Schwarzer zither:

My Schwarzer concert zither is #10599. Are there any records that could tell me the date of manufacture? My grandmother bought it from a hobo that approached her door in Kingman, Arizona, about 1960. It sat in her closet for 25 years, and I found it there after she died. It sat in my closet for another 10, until I got a wild hair and started to play.

You have a Franz Schwarzer Style "A" Large Model Zither which dates to 1922. By large, it has 35 strings as compared to the standard 32 strings. Schwarzer had several offerings in this series. This zither, with the inlaid surface, is one of his higher end models.

Theodore Lohr, an agent for Schwarzer in New York City, offered this particular zither as model number 16. I've attached a scan from Lohr's early zither catalog showing this specific model.
Attachments
Schwarzer Large Model Zither.
Schwarzer Large Model Zither.
10599_schwarzer.jpg (193.25 KiB) Viewed 2098 times
Schwarzer Label.
Schwarzer Label.
10599_label.jpg (465.07 KiB) Viewed 2098 times
Theodore Lohr Advertisement.
Theodore Lohr Advertisement.
10599_lohr_ad.jpg (154.55 KiB) Viewed 2098 times
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