Images(4)

Music Stand

Date1800-1825

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Rockingham County

MediumWrought iron and painted wood

DimensionsOH: 43" (minimum; adjustable); Tripod legs 12-13" toe to toe; desk dimensions 7 ½ x 15 ¼

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The American Folk Art Society in honor of Carolyn Weekley and Barbara Luck

Object number2008.3000.2

DescriptionMusic stand; top composed of rectangular, wooden music desk with shaped top edge and large chevron cutout echoing top shape; iron strip (shaped like a blunt draw knife) with ends inserted through bottom edge of music support as ledge; reverse of music desk has deeply carved decorative lines; top of stand bolted at fixed slant onto rectilinear, L-shaped iron brace that is in turn riveted to a tapered wooden post; a second thicker, wooden post, rounded on back and flat on front is held to the back of the first post at the top by an iron collar with a set screw with large curled ends forming the handle and at the base by a rectangular iron strap nailed to the sides of the second post that wraps around the first post; an iron ferrule encircles the base of the second post and the foot assembly is pinned to the bottom of the post with an iron rod; the foot assembly consists the front two legs of strap iron with round flat feet that form an arch and the rear arched leg that is wrapped around the center of that arch; the iron rod, headed on the bottom, passes through that joint; height of stand is adjustable by sliding the two posts and tightening the set screw.
Label TextThe music stand is a rare manifestation of a folk musical tradition normally survived only by its distinctive type of printed music known as "Shape Note." Kentucky Harmony, the other seminal shape note songbooks were published in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, and it is thought that this stand was used there in that tradition. This assumption is supported in part by the general period and provenance of the artifact, but also compellingly by the unusual proportions of the desk portion, which closely relates to the known format of these early shape-note publications: 5 1/2" high and 8 3/4" wide, opening to 17 1/2" wide.
Provenance20th century recovery history by donor in Rockingham County, Virginia.

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