It is once in a lifetime that a very special banjo like this come for sale. This is an instrument from the collection of Akira Tsumura, and pictured on page 179 in his book 1001 Banjos; The Tsumura Collection. It features an 11 inch rim which is gold plated and highly engraved. The interior of the rim is ornately decorated with unusual, colorful marquetry. The dowel stick itself is carved annd inlaid with a silver S. S. Stewart plaque. The cherry neck with 25 1/2 inch scale has a long, artistic carving with vines and daisies extending up to the 7th fret. The banjo is very original and unmodified except at some point someone moved the dowel stick a half inch and added a second hole for the tailpiece (old style neck reset). The fingerboard and peghead are covered with finely engraved shell inlays and are complete except for two small pieces. The banjo has engraved pearl inlays at the end of the fingerboard with stylized initials which are perhaps of the original owner. Instruments like this were custom ordered in the 1880s and would cost as much as a month salary. This is an extraordinarily fine instrument and complete with his original carved tailpiece and pearl button tuners.