Autoharp / Chorded Zither

c. 1900
Subcollections
Overview

The autoharp body is made of a dark wood, and has a generally rectangular shape, with one corner cut off. A straight wood ridge is located 3 cms from the top and slanted edges and serves as a bed for the strings, which resemble those used in pianos and concert zithers. There are 30 metal strings with one missing. The larger tuning pins are made of wood and the string nuts on the short straight edge are metal.

The box with the chord buttons has a description of the chords that could be played (key G, D, F, C). The panel also has fancy gold painted scrolls on the top and bottom. On the main panel is a description of the various octaves for the different strings. There are felt pads underneath the box which are pressed against the strings when chord buttons are pushed and the box covers a guitar-like sound hole in the main panel.

On the bottom surface there are 3 brass bolts that probably were used to anchor some sort strapping to support the harp in a playing position.

Historical information

Charles F. Zimmermann, a German immigrant in Philadelphia, was awarded a patent in 1882 for a “Harp” fitted with a mechanism that muted strings selectively during play. He called the zither-sized instrument using this mechanism an “autoharp" but this model did not closely resemble the modern autoharp. It is not known if Zimmermann ever produced these instruments commercially. In the meantime Karl August Gütter of Markneukirchen, Germany, built and obtained a British patent c1883-4 for model that he called a Volkszither that closely resembled the modern autoharp. However back in the states in 1885 Zimmermann began production of instruments with the Gütter design which he called autoharps and included his own name and patent number. As a result, Zimmermann is widely but incorrectly regarded as the inventor of the instrument in its now familiar form.

Details

Details

Registration number
cwa-org-124-2024.30
Themes
Width
29 cm
Height or length
51 cm
Depth
3.5000 cm
Inscriptions and markings

There are no markings that give any indication of who made this instrument.

Contextual Information

Despite being called an Autoharp, this instrument is actually a chorded zither and played in the same manner as a zither, with the addition of chord bars.

Autoharps are often used in bluegrass and country music and it was a favourite instrument of the Carter family.

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Related Objects

Related Objects

Child records
Busselton Historical Society

Busselton Historical Society

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Autoharp
Autoharp
Autoharp end view showing height of the chord box, note / string numbering and metal string nuts
Autoharp end view showing height of the chord box and buttons, gold strip with note / string numbering and metal string nuts.
Close up of the Autoharp chord box
Wooden string tuning pegs on the shaped edge of the Autoharp

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