Pajot jeune; hurdy-gurdy (Radleier); wood; total: length: 610 mm; width: 292 mm; height: 246 mm; inscription: on the side of the tangent box: PAJOT A JENZAT; note (instrument making): on the inside of the keyboard cover FABRIQUE DES INSTRUMENTS de MUSIQUE/Fonde?en 1875/MEDAILLES D'OR ET D'ARGENT (PAJOT JEUNE/Nouvelle Maison a` JENZAT (Allier); stringed instruments; Historism; The hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument with keys; the strings of which are played by a string wheel equipped with a crank. It has been known in Europe since the Middle Ages and was for a long time the instrument of minstrels; farmers and beggars. Drone-strings; which produce one or more accompanying holding tones; give the instrument its typical folk-musical sound. This instrument; decorated with fine inlays of ivory and mother-of-pearl; comes from the workshop of the Pajot family in Jenzat in the Auvergne; where they have cultivated the tradition of instrument making for many generations.