Object Details
- Description
- Maker unknown. undetermined city, USA.
- This object has been given considerable scrutiny and analysis because of its attribution during the 1990s to African traditions. Studies have been inconclusive; while the sun design carved on the body may have African origins, the polygonal shape, wood top (instead of a skin), and carved head lie outside the traditions of those instrument designs and technologies brought by people from the African continent who had been kidnapped, enslaved and trafficked across the Atlantic. An appraisal dates the instrument to the early to mid-19th century, but this instrument continues to warrant further study.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Robert S. Jamieson
- 1835 - 1865
- ID Number
- 1990.0164.01
- accession number
- 1990.0164
- catalog number
- 1990.0164.01
- Object Name
- folk instrument
- Physical Description
- wood (part material)
- metal (part material)
- Measurements
- overall: 31 in x 10 in x 3 1/2 in; 78.74 cm x 25.4 cm x 8.89 cm
- place made
- United States
- See more items in
- Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
- Music & Musical Instruments
- Cultures & Communities
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Music
- African American
- Record ID
- nmah_606749
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a4-418a-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
