Mesquite Branch Folk Art Harp, 16-String Sculptural Instrument

A sculptural harp built from a single mesquite branch, its forked natural form pressed into service as both frame and pillar. The maker followed the wood — the curving limb traces the neck and forearm, the upright trunk anchors the soundpost, and the heavy stump base grounds the whole piece. Sixteen strings span the interior, anchored along the soundboard rail with small iron pins and tuned at the harmonic curve with magnetic tuning pegs. The bark has been stripped and the surface finished to a warm, glossy reddish-brown that highlights the burls, knots, and checks native to mesquite heartwood.

Built ornamentally rather than as a concert instrument, this sits at the crossroads of folk art and sculptural craft — closer in spirit to a Chihuahuan Desert artisan tradition than to a luthier's workshop. Mesquite is dense, slow-grown, and stubborn to work; selecting a forked limb of this scale and coaxing it into a coherent harp form required both patience and an intuitive eye for the wood's own geometry. The two-image comparison across multiple angles shows at least two distinct structural configurations, suggesting either multiple related pieces from the same maker or a single piece that was rebuilt or restrung at some point — worth investigating before publication.

CONDITION

Good overall. Finish is intact with the natural irregularities of the mesquite — knots, bark inclusions, and surface checks — left as features rather than flaws. Strings are present and strung; tuning and playability not tested.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall: 55" H × 55.5" W × 13" D
• Material: Mesquite
• Strings: 16 (non-magnetic)
• Tuning Pins: 16 (magnetic)
• Maker's Mark: Unmarked