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Shell lyre

The body of the instrument is a longitudinal oval wooden bowl. A carved, cylindrical extension at the apex of the bowl curvature. Skin strap tension of the membrane against a tension ring of the same material resting on the outside of the bowl. A slightly asymmetrical yoke with a horizontal crossbar. The longitudinal arms are tied to the outer membrane lacing near the skin passage. Six preserved strings, one of them broken. The upper ends of the strings are wound into ball rings at the yoke, while the lower ends are wound as a strand near the lower shell wall through a perforation in the top and one in the wall and tied to a crosspiece on the outside of the shell. Three plant stalks are glued to the crosspiece underneath the string tension, strung together like a raft and pressed flat. The top support is probably only fragmentary. Remains of a black adhesive. Two small, round membrane perforations. A skin strap. 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

Cultural attribution
Ngoroine
Object type
musical instruments
Dimensions
Objektmaß: L:ca.87 cm; H:ca.30 cm; B:60 cm
Material/Technique
Wood, Leather , Plant fibre
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
III E 5794
Related object(s)

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    where
    East Africa
    who
    Ngoroine
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Africa

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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