$1,610
Carved and Painted Wood "Gaytar" Stringed Instrument, carved by Robert Shaffer, known as "Doctor Bob," Louisiana, c. 1975, with glass eyes and tail terminating in coiled serpents, painted in shades of green, ht. 53, wd. 4, dp. 2 1/2 in. N.B. This instrument was purportedly played by numerous New Orleans musicians, including Walter Payton of the Boudreauxs, Hank William's Jr.'s band, Crowe Brothers Band, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Andy Andrews, who played the streets of New Orleans for ten years, and Coco Robicheaux, at the Jazz Festival, and it has traveled to thirty states. The "Gaytar" was carved by Robert Schaffer, a drifter, from a single piece of fence-post of cedar or redwood. Later, he added a peg and an old tin washtub served as resonator.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2001-02-25
