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Photo of Anders Challman's nyckelharpa. Photo courtesy of the American Swedish Institute
Authors note: The nyckelharpa photo looks upside down. A kontrabasharpa and silvebasharpa must be hung with "eyes" up. It is consider bad luck to hang it any other way.
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Anders Ernst Ericsson-Challman was born on February 6, 1870, in Börstil, Uppland, Sweden, an area with a rich tradition of nyckelharpa playing. At the age of 18, he emigrated to Minneapolis, bringing his nyckelharpa with him, and worked as a blacksmith in a small shop. That shop eventually became Challman & CO. Steel Fabricators, and is still in operating in Minneapolis.
His instrument appears to be a kontrabasharpa style nyckelharpa, the most prominant type of nyckelharpa played from the 1600s into the 1800s. Inside the instrument is marked “EÅ 1640”. If the date is verified, it would make this one of the oldest surviving nyckelharpas in the world. Anders’ daughter, Mildred, remembered her father playing the nyckelharpa every Saturday evening. For him, the instrument must have been more than a musical instrument. It was a tangible connection to the Swedish musical world he had left behind. Today, this remarkable instrument is part of the collection of the American Swedish Institute Museum in Minneapolis. Although it has undergone repairs over the years, efforts have been made to preserve its integrity and historical significance. Credit to the American Swedish Institute and special thanks to Per-Ulf Allmo, Sweden for providing valuable information for this story.
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