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Kora

Large harp-lute made with a semi-hemispherical gourd resonator, covered with animal hide that was pinned with small wooden dowels. A long and thick wooden neck protrudes from the gourd, and bears 23 strings of twisted hide attached to plaited hide rings that can slide along the neck and be adjusted for tuning. The strings run along the sides of a tall notched/grooved bridge (currently disassembled), thus being lifted to a plane perpendicular to the soundtable instead of parallel to it, and are attached to anchor strings (vegetable fibers?) laced around a metal ring secured at the bottom end of the neck (spike). Two wooden dowels run along the sides of the bridge, which pierce the hide at both ends and extend high on the upper section, thus creating the handposts for the player. Another wooden dowel pierces the hide transversely just below the point where the bridge is placed, thus serving as an horizontal brace. Two soundholes in the shape of a star and a rectangle were cut on the resonator gourd.

  • Measurements:Height: 1085mm; Width: 500mm; Depth: 290mm