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Shell zither

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A narrow, flat bowl with strongly inwardly curved long sides. Only the two inner string tensioners lie above the bowl opening. Six diagonally drilled string guide perforations. Six strings made of twisted plant fibre. One end of the string cord [is] looped into a knot behind an outer perforation, the other wrapped around a stem extension carved in the longitudinal direction. A branch tied into the inside of the shell. There is a small, slit-shaped perforation in the base of the shell. At the end of the stalk process [is] a fully carved human head. An iron ring passed through the stem below the head. "S. v. Manibaya in the Ussagara Mountains." from Ulrich Wegner: Afrikanische Saiteninstrumente, Staatliche Museen Berlin - SPK, 1984 (appendix object catalogue)

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Cataloguing data

Cultural attribution
Wakaguru
Object type
musical instruments
Dimensions
Length: 55,6 cm
Width: 8,1 cm
Height: 4 cm
Material/Technique
Iron, Wood, Plant fibre
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III E 4036

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    where
    Tanzania
    Ussagara Mountains
    Manibaya
    who
    Wakaguru
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Africa

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED

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