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Bowl lyre.
Technical description: 8 strings originally; wooden arms and yoke; sound table of monitor lizard skin laced to cow or goat skin patch on underside; the two sticks (arms) pierce the covering of the resonating bowl but do not pierce the bowl itself at the lower end; the strings pierce the covering at the point of entry below the bridge and then re-emerge through the bottom end of the bowl at their point of convergence, and are tied on the outside with a peg; a sixth string is tied to the yoke but is not attached at the lower end, and does not have a notch provided for it on the bridge as the other five do. Lacing style (colour and density) and patch shape suggest Ganda or Soga origin (Uganda). Yoke length 335; length of resonating chamber 185; width of resonating chamber 220. Repair History: Bridge a later (non-African) addition.
- Date:
Probably 19th century - Maker:
- Collection:
University of Edinburgh - Inventory number:
Loading... - Place of production:
East Africa/Africa - Hornbostel-Sachs classification:321.21-5 Bowl lyres sounded by the bare fingers
- Culture:
- Period:
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- Inscriptions:
- Hornbostel-Sachs category:321.21-5 Bowl lyres sounded by the bare fingers
- Repository:University of Edinburgh
- Measurements:Length 460 perpendicular to yoke.
- View the original record:https://collections.ed.ac.uk/mimed/record/17448