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Shell zither

An elongated bowl with steep inner cross walls and longitudinal walls that merge with the floor in a curve. An almost rectangular opening outline. [There are eight diagonally drilled string guide perforations. Eight strings. One end of the string is tied to a crosspiece behind an outer perforation, the other is wrapped around a stem extension carved lengthways. An unused stem perforation. Four cord loops hanging down below the base of the bowl and fixed by a knot above a perforation in the base. There are three star-shaped perforations in the centre line of the bowl base. A head carved in full relief at the end of the stem process. This [is] hung with strings of beads and decorated with eye discs. from Ulrich Wegner: Afrikanische Saiteninstrumente, Staatliche Museen Berlin - SPK, 1984 (Appendix Object Catalogue)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
musical instruments
Dimensions
Length: 73,5 cm
Width: 12,4 cm
Height: 6,5 cm
Material/Technique
Wood, Plant fibre , Ivory
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III E 6848

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    where
    Tanzania
    Uha
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Africa

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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