antique erhu

[christine]

I have inherited my (Chinese) grandfather's erhu.  It's beautifully carved and in good condition.  It dates back to at least 1900.  Does this erhu have any monetary value?  If so, how would I go about appraising its value and selling it?  Alternatively, would it be of interest to any partiular museum?  Any information from anyone would be greatly appreciated!

[edcat7]

Hi Christine, pictures would be good. If the snakeskin is the original I suspect it needs changing now.

[christine]

Here are a couple of photos.  Yes, I think the snakeskin is the original.  Many thanks

Attachments:

[paulv]

Christine,

Is the resonator box really round or is it made up of many small pieces and then sanded to obtain the round, outside shape? Can you look inside and see if the box is perfectly round on the inside? If so, that erhu is going to have a lot of harmonics for a very full, rich sound. I agree with edcat7 that you may need to replace the skin after all these years due to stretching or just deterioration.

As far as what it's worth, someone would be willing to pay a good price for that erhu since the wood is at least from the 1900's or maybe even older. My erhu was custom made with antique wood and it was $2500US (glad it was a birthday gift to me from my brother-in-law), and I would give you at least that much (if I was in the market for an erhu). Good luck.

Regards,
paul...

[davidmdahl]

Evaluating your huqin requires someone truly knowledgeable about such vintage instruments. The naming and valuation of old instruments is complicated by all of the changes that happened during the 20th C. It is also possible that the instrument is not really a gaohu. The gaohu was not invented/developed until the 1920s. If your instrument is really older than that, it could not be a gaohu.

I suggest contacting Sung Wah at Eason Music in Singapore. He is more likely to be able to give you the straight scoop on your instrument than any of us.

Best wishes,

David

[dawei]

Mar 31, 2016 21:15:04 GMT christine said:

I have inherited my (Chinese) grandfather's erhu.  It's beautifully carved and in good condition.  It dates back to at least 1900.  Does this erhu have any monetary value?  If so, how would I go about appraising its value and selling it?  Alternatively, would it be of interest to any particular museum?  Any information from anyone would be greatly appreciated!

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was searching for gaohu info on the forum.

I doubt this instrument is from 1900. This is no criticism, you are not the first member of a Chinese (or Italian!) family to have an heirloom instrument that is not quite what the family legend says it is. Me too.

First, the gaohu as such was not developed until the 1920's with the rise of Guangdong Yinyue. 

Next, your family's instrument looks much more like a lot of instruments I've seen from more like 1940-50 and after period than any of the surviving antique huqin family instruments of the 1900 time period that I've seen.  

That said, it looks quite well made, particularly the Dragon carving. The peghead area is more complex than most I've seen.

Next, the body seems to have be constructed of several pieces including a small contrasting strip. I've examined a number of 60-ish or less year old erhu that look like that. 

Also, the skin looks to be in pretty decent shape - another reason to wonder if it from 1900.

Anyway, to the right person and when well setup, this could be a nice instrument.

[edcat7]

When I shuffle off this mortal coil, my daughters would be welcome to my musical instruments. However like Christine I suspect they will put it on eBay...and make a huge loss.

I'm sure my teacher is impressed that a British born Chinese is interested in traditional Chinese music.

The other day one of the chefs at work was whistling a dizi tune, two in fact. I whistled along to both of them. That surprised him

[yuhongmei123]

Apr 4, 2016 4:55:33 GMT paulv said:

Christine,

Is the resonator box really round or is it made up of many small pieces and then sanded to obtain the round, outside shape? Can you look inside and see if the box is perfectly round on the inside? If so, that erhu is going to have a lot of harmonics for a very full, rich sound. 

Is the box being perfectly round on the inside a good thing?

[dawei]

Nov 30, 2017 0:01:53 GMT yuhongmei123 said:

Apr 4, 2016 4:55:33 GMT paulv said:

Is the box being perfectly round on the inside a good thing?

It depends. 

The gaohu and many other members of the huqin family have not been "reformed" like the erhu has been.

It's a matter of what you consider "good"!