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Shell lyre

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The instrument body is a longitudinal oval calabash half with a glued-on membrane. Longitudinal arms diverging towards the crossbar and resting with their lower, joined ends in the spout of the calabash. Four strings. The string material (woollen cord) probably not original. Ball rings binding the strings together with strips of cloth. The lower ends of the strings are knotted into a large loop that runs around the slightly protruding bar ends. The long arms and the yoke angles are wrapped in reptile or mammal skin. Skin flap coverings at the points where the longitudinal arms penetrate the membrane. Eighteen small, round perforations symmetrically arranged in four groups in the body cover. Stripes of incised pattern following the edge of the shell on the outside of the shell. An animal motif in the centre line. from Ulrich Wegner: Afrikanische Saiteninstrumente, Staatliche Museen Berlin - SPK, 1984 (Appendix Object Catalogue)

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Ethnologisches Museum Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
musical instruments
Dimensions
Length: 49,3 cm
Width: 26,9 cm
Height: 8 cm
Material/Technique
Calabash, Leather (reptile), Leather , Cord (twisted), Fabric (cotton)
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III C 40261

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    where
    East Africa
    North-East Africa
  • Collecting
    who
    Alfred Klinkmüller (1912-02-21 - 1977-08-10) - Collectors
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Africa

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED

Related objects

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