A folk art violin with its early, original inlaid, coffin case. The violin neck terminates with a naive depiction of an black male with the name "Sambo" painted on the bill. A horse hair bow with inlaid mother of abalone frog was in the case. The instrument and coffin case has extensive wear and 2 old repairs. The case measurements are as follows, 78.5cm in length, 23 cm in width, 14 cm in depth. The bust is carved in a more folksy, informal manner the majority of the other fiddles with classically derived, formal figured pegheads. Also, the bust is more upright and very large. The printed "SAMBO" on the bill of the cap is overpainted on the original varnish and probably, a later addition. The original hardwood case has an array of inlaid stars and hearts and is constructed with square nails. Also, a later paper label of the underside it written, "Lock Miller Estate, Norwest Bank, Jean Wagner 3/6/96 T.O." The earliest documentation on this fiddle, is an auction catalog showing that it was part of the Morgan Rank Collection of Folk Art. This fiddle was attributed to the early 20th century and estimated at $20K to $30K at the time of the auction in 2014. The auction catalog states that the fiddle is the best folk instrument in the collection and one of the finest to surface to the market. Mr. Rank operated an eponymous gallery in East Hampton, New York, from the 1970s through 2001.