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Sitar

The sitar is a fretted long-necked lute made with gourd resonators (tumba). This example is a seven string lute with a single hemispherical tumba, and a one-piece neck and pegbox made of wood (usually tun or teak wood), covered with a wooden top and fretboard respectively. At the present state, the instrument is missing the adjustable gut frets, the strings, and the jawari bridge. Most of the pegs are broken. The nut is a plain rectangular bone piece and the tailpiece is also of bone. The neck is heavily decorated with small ivory circles making up diamond shapes along the length of the neck. Under the bridge are black and white coloured ivory panels, with borders decorated by ivory circles. Where the neck joins the resonating chamber is a band of ivory, painted black with a cross and circular design. The bulbous shaped resonating chamber has carved grooves running down it, with a scalloped carved ivory border around it.

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  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:321.321 Necked bowl lutes
  • Repository:Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum
  • Measurements:Height: 1195mm; Width: 245mm; Depth: 225mm