More to the point, it was a 4-string plectrum banjo from the 1920s. Most of us have seen banjos with 10” or 11” heads, but during the jazz age, banjo head size increased in size so they’d be loud enough to be heard in the horn-based bands then preeminent. This is what led to the dobro, George Beauchamp’s electric pickups, and electric guitars….so maybe banjos aren’t an entirely unremitting horror.