Is this a mandolin or a balalaika?

[fleursdumal]

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=482767&cur_tab=
It has the shape of a balalaika, but it has a strange string setup. And it's made of malachite and bronze. I'm pretty sure this thing is just decorative. But what is it?

[allenhopkins]

Well, it's five inches high, which should give you a clue that it's a decorative piece in the general shape of a balalaika. I've seen lots of jewelry, miniature instruments, Christmas ornaments etc. that "evoke" specific real instruments -- banjos, mandolins, guitars, etc. -- without being particularly accurate as to such details as number of strings, proportions, etc. It really isn't intended to be an accurate representation of either a mandolin or a balalaika, just a pretty little gewgaw for someone's curio cabinet.

[Tim2723]

Hi and welcome!

Yes, that's certainly a decoration. About the size of a Christmas tree ornament. It's a balalaika, just a six-string model. There are balalaikas like that in the real world, and the artist may have used one as his model, or it might just be an "artist's interpretation" of a balalaika.

[journeybear]

Generally speaking, I would consider a fretted string instrument with a triangular body to be a balalaika. As a decorative piece, accuracy need not be a paramount consideration. The number of strings, the dot at the second fret rather than the third, the relatively small "soundhole," the double string courses - these are not typical for the instrument. Usually they have three single strings.

I find it odd how this is described:

Unusual Miniature Malachite & Gilt-Bronze "Mandolino" resting on a malachite base. Note the attention to detail including delicate filagree with strings attached to the keys.
Harp & Violin also available.

Perhaps the seller just thinks of string instruments smaller than a guitar as some kind of mandolin, or has never heard of a balalaika.

[JEStanek]

I can't spell baleyliekah. That's a mandolin. ;) That looks everything in the world to me like a decorative double coursed balalaika.

Jamie

[michaelpthompson]

It's purty, whatever it is. Though it gives one pause to see that you have to sign up and login in order to see the price.

[journeybear]

I can't spell baleyliekah. That's a mandolin. ;)

Funny - never noticed until just now that about the most phonetically-spelled instrument is the banjo (and drums, too, I guess). Perhaps that's to help those who play them to spell it (and drums, too, I guess). :whistling: