Object Details
- Manufactured by
- Ovation Guitar Company, American, founded 1965
- Owned by
- Josh White, American, 1914 - 1969
- Subject of
- James H. Rickard, American, died 1996
- Description
- 2021.107ab: A Josh White Model Guitar (a) custom made by Ovation Instruments with an accompanying case (b) for Josh White.
- 2021.107a: Josh White Model Guitar custom made by Ovation Instruments for Josh White. The acoustic guitar has light colored, spruce, top wood and a black, semi-parabolic body. Around the edges of the sound hole is a rosette: a black circular band inlaid with a tn, mother of pearl, foliate pattern. The front of the neck is dark wood with inlaid mother of pearl fret markers shaped like notched diamonds and dots. A handwritten signature in gold ink, [Josh White], is written across the center of the headstock. At the top of the headstock is a gold printed logo for Ovation Instruments: the text [Ovation] with the first letter [O] printed in relief inside a stylized graphic of a guitar. The sides of the headstock are engraved with an ornate spiral pattern. Attached to the nuts are six, carved, white tuning pegs. The back of the neck is medium toned wood with two, thin bands of light tone wood running vertically down the center. The guitar has six steel guitar strings. There are three vertical cracks extending from the base of the bridge to the bottom edge of the guitar and three brown striated marks to the left of the rosette, near the waist. The interior of the body is black. Inside the sound hole is a white paper adhesive manufacturer’s label form. At the top of the label is the logo for Ovation: [Ovation Instruments / BLOOMFIELD, CONN.] with the first letter [O] in Ovation printed in relief inside a stylized graphic of a guitar printed in black and red text. Below is a short form with three lines that reads [Model ____________ / Serial ____________ / Approval ____________]. Printed black script text next to [Model] reads [Josh White]. Printed red and black text next to [Serial] reads [291 custom for Josh]. Printed black script text next to [Model] reads [J.H. Rickard]. Printed black text at the bottom left corner of the label reads [PAT. APPLIED FOR]. At the bottom of the body is a strap button.
- 2021.107b: An accompanying hard case for the Josh White Model Guitar made by Ovation Instruments for Josh White. The hard case is acoustic guitar shaped with a black exterior and soft-textured, yellow, wooly interior. The case has four brass latches and a black, leather texture carrying handle on one side. On the other side are three brass hinges. The far left and right sides also have round head tacks at the top and bottom to support the case when placed on the ground. The case has an interior support for the neck. Above the support is a storage compartment with a flap. Adhered to the inside of the flap are two white adhesive labels with black text that reads [OVATION #291 JOSH WHITE CUSTOM] and [OVATION 291].
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gene C. Feldman
- ca. 1966
- Object number
- 2021.107ab
- Restrictions & Rights
- No known copyright restrictions
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
- Type
- cases (containers)
- guitars
- Medium
- 2021.107a: spruce with mahogany, rosewood, maple, German silver, bone, steel, silicone and fiberglass
- 2021.107b: imitation leather on plywood with textile materials, brass (alloy) and metal
- Dimensions
- H x W x D (Guitar): 39 1/2 × 15 9/16 × 5 7/8 in. (100.4 × 39.5 × 15 cm)
- H x W x D (Case): 43 1/8 × 17 1/2 × 7 5/16 in. (109.5 × 44.5 × 18.5 cm)
- Place made
- Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, North and Central America
- See more items in
- National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
- Classification
- Musical Instruments
- Exhibition
- Musical Crossroads
- On View
- NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 053
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Topic
- African American
- Blues (Music)
- Instrumentalists (Musicians)
- Singers (Musicians)
- Record ID
- nmaahc_2021.107ab
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5e19a9670-2eb1-4a9d-a6d3-0d8d5721e637
