New York City, New York
John Koleszar

Woods, metal strings, fiber
Pre-1874 style / Late 1800s-Early 1900s
Height: 31 in; Width: 52 in; Depth: 27 in
Strings – Zither – Dulcimer

This Hungarian Schunda system hammered dulcimer called a cimbalom was possibly made by John Koleszar in New York City.  He both repaired and made dulcimers.  This dulcimer was built in the early pre-1874 Budapest style as this instrument does not have dampers.  Dampers for cimbaloms were not invented until 1874 by Schunda Vencel Jozsef. 

This cimbalom is made of dark wood with four removable legs.  The legs are of two differing heights so the trapezoidal body of the instrument is angled down toward the long edge where the player would sit.  Each leg has a beveled profile, tapered from the top down and screws into the underside of the cimbalom body. The soundboard is painted black and features four circular groupings of seven small sound holes, two of the groupings slightly larger and positioned near the lower, wider end of the instrument.   This Instrument has one course of two thick strings, 15 courses of three strings, and 19 courses of four strings for a total of 35 courses. Many are steel, though a few of the lower strings are copper. On the raised side of the instrument visible to the audience is a metal label reading “John Koleszar / New York, NY.”   

This cimbalom came with a set of two hammers with cloth/fiber-wrapped ends. The Instrument also came with a John Koleszar catalog that features many cimbaloms, including this one.

Resource: https://klezmerinstitute.org/gramophone-in-focus/