Drum

A single head drum the body hollowed out of one block of wood. The head and handles made of cow hide with the hair partly left on. It has hide carrying handles. The shape is cylindro-conical with the skin indirectly laced; the edges of the skin of the head are folded under a rope ring which is laced to a smaller ring round the base of the drum. This drum was obtained by Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford (1838-1913) while on Royal Navy operations in West Africa. It may have been taken during the action against Nana Olomu in September 1894, or during the Brass River expedition of February 1895, where British military action far inland was undertaken on the pretext of anti-slavery enforcement. It reflects European interest in African artefacts at the end of the 19th century, many of which were collected as a result of military action.