Banjeaurine

The banjeaurine, also spelled banjourine or banjorine, is essentially a mini banjo, designed to play lead instrument in banjo orchestras from the 1890s to the 1930s. The banjeaurine was invented by Samuel Swaim Stewart, owner of the S.S. Stewart Banjo Company in Philadelphia. The new instrument first hit the music scene in 1885, played before the public by William A. Huntley. A higher pitched version of the conventional 5-string banjo, the banjeaurine soon became an essential part of banjo orchestras, where it was responsible for the majority of the solos in musical pieces.