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.