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Africa and Western/Central Asia On Display in the NMM's Beede Gallery |
Algeria, see 34
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Looking for a map? Link to the Perry-Castaņeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin for an excellent collection of historic and current worldwide maps. Click here for their selection of maps of Africa.
1) Guitar, Sebele (outskirts of Gaborone), Botswana, ca. 1978. Hand-made from a can used to ship USAID foodstuffs. Three strings. Acquired from two 12-year-old boys walking down a dirt road in front of the donors' house. Gift of Dale and JoAnne Reeves, Brookings, South Dakota, 2001. NMM 10074.
2) Double clapperless bell (kuge), Cameroon, mid-20th century. Iron, struck with attached wood beater, regularly used in the area of Cameroon where the donor worked and collected this and other instruments. Gift of Verna Syverson, a missionary in Meiganga, Cameroon, 1987. NMM 4175.
3) Talking drum (kalengo), Nigeria or the Guinea forest, early 20th century. Pitch is changed by squeezing the cords under one's arm, thus altering the tension of the heads. Wood body, two skin heads, rawhide tension. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 1251.
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4) Two drums from a set of tuned drums or drum chime (entenga), Uganda, ca. 1910. Played at the royal court of the Kabaka, the traditional ruler of Buganda, a region of Uganda. As many as 15 such drums are played together, tuned so that one can hear a melody. Inside of each, an unidentified fetish rattles around. Collected by Carl E. Akeley (1864-1926), who led five expeditions to Africa. His older brother, Lewis E. Akeley (1861-1961), was Dean of the USD College of Engineering and died in Vermillion at the age of 100. Gift of Melville H. Miller, DeLand, Florida, 1983. NMM 3179 and 3180. |
Lit.: "Collected by Carl Akeley . . . Rare African Drums Acquired," Shrine to Music Museum, Inc., Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 4 (July 1983), pp. 1 and 3.
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5) Dance rattle (osó or makalaka), Mhasha villager or tribesman, Bechuanaland Protectorate, ca. 1897. Gourd body, wood handle. Filled with some 30 small, but hard seeds. A free design scratched on surface of the gourd. Ex coll.: Silvia Davison Paton, Hartford Seminary, Connecticut, 1904. Board of Trustees, 1979. NMM 2606. |
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6) Beaded gourd rattle (cabaca), Cameroon, mid-20th century. Used by men in the grasslands region of Cameroon. Gift of Verna Syverson, Cameroon, 1987. NMM 4176. |
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7) Stick zither (lokángo voatávo), Madagascar, signed FAHATSIAROVANA TAMIN'NY DRISTIANA Fort Dauphin, 25 Avril 1905. Wood, two strings, played with a gourd resonator. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 2429. |
8) Plucked lamellaphone (sansa), probably East Africa, early 20th century. Metal lamellae forged from umbrella ribs or bicycle-wheel spokes. Six wood panels nailed together to form trapezoidal resonator. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 1241.
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9) Plucked lamellaphone (sansa), Loango people, Zaire, ca. 1900. Homoxylic wood resonator, hollowed out from the bottom, top end resembling the prow of a boat. Decorated with small, blue glass beads in a pattern of lozenges. Six (originally seven) iron tongues. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 1242. |
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10) Plucked lamellaphone (tyitanzi), Angola (West Africa), early 20th century. Played by depressing and releasing the nine (originally ten) tongues, five of brass and four of forged iron, with the thumbs. Flat soundtable incised with a pattern of lozenges flanked by triangles. Small convex discs of brass at the ends, and five jingling metal rings strung on a loop of twisted iron. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 1243. |
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11) Arched harp (donnu) by Mangbetu people, Uele river region, Belgian Congo (now northeastern Zaire), ca. 1910-1920. The twisted copper wire depicts the geometric, dotted, linear body painting favored by Mangbetu women. The elongated heads represent the Mangbetu's Queen Nenzima and King Yangala. Board of Trustees, 1995. NMM 5893. |
Lit.: Margaret Downie Banks, "Anthropomorphic Harp a Link to Zaire's Colonial Past," The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter, Vol. 23, No. 3 (January 1996), p. 5.
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12) Arched harp, Belgian Congo, ca. 1900. Waisted, boat-shaped wood body tightly covered with hide. Two sound holes. Carved effigy head at the top of the curved, wood neck. Five pegs. Ex coll.: William E. Gribbon, Greenfield, Massachusetts. Purchase funds gift of Grace L. Beede, 1977. NMM 1503. |
13) Lyre (ndongo), Uganda (east Africa), ca. 1935. Bowl-shaped wood resonator covered with snakeskin, with a single sound hole. Eight strings of twisted leather bound by strips of cloth at the crossbar. Quasi-triangular yoke. Used both as a solo instrument and in ensembles. Plucked with the fingers of both hands. Ex coll.: James Francis, Toledo, Ohio. Board of Trustees, 1976. NMM 1434.
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14) Plucked lamellaphone (sansa), Gbaya tribe, western grasslands region of Cameroon, ca. 1950. A female figure, once used and kept in a hut where it was exposed to in-house cooking fires. Hair is carved to look like it is pulled back, almost to a point, typical of the Gbaya people. The nine wood tongues are depressed and released to make music. Gift of Verna Syverson, Cameroon, 1987. NMM 4173. |
15) Portable ring xylophone (kundung), Nigeria, Cameroon, or Zaire (central Africa), ca. 1935. Seven bars (keys) with animal horn resonators. Two y-shaped wood beaters make it possible to play up to four bars at once. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 1247.
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16) Raft zither, west Africa, ca. 1935. Cane. Ten strings. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 1245. |
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17) Xylophone (balo), Sierra Leone (West Africa), ca. 1900. Wood frame with nineteen bars (keys) and gourd resonators hanging below. Played by male professional musicians to accompany praise songs. Board of Trustees, 1978. NMM 2440. |
18) Portable xylophone (mbila), Portugese East Africa or southern Mozambique, ca. 1900. Ten bars and gourd resonators (one missing). Two mallets with resin heads. Built to be played while walking. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 2425.
19) Horn, Belgian Congo (now Zaire), ca. 1850-1900. Ivory. An effigy head inlaid with rings of black resin to form the eyes. Lozenge-shaped embouchure with two carved ivory extensions. Ex coll.: Harry Oster, Iowa City. Board of Trustees, 1978. NMM 2441.
20) Double-bell trumpet (kakaki), Konni, Niger, ca. 1975. Two sections with geometrical patterns embossed around the bells. Small copper rings hang in the bell rims. Integral mouth-piece. Exhibited at the World of Islam Festival in London in 1976. Board of Trustees, 1980. NMM 2750.
21) Arched harp, Central Africa, ca. 1920. Ivory neck and pegs and an effigy head carved at the top with elaborate hair or a headdress. Wood body covered with tightly sewn reptile skin. Five strings. Ex coll.: Fred Benkovic, Milwaukee. Board of Trustees, 1978. NMM 2388.
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22) Hunting horn, Belgian Congo (now Zaire), ca. 1925. Stained ivory or animal horn. Lozenge-shaped embouchure with a man's head carved on the backside. Dot patterns burned into the body. Joe R. & Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999. NMM 7037. |
23) Hunting horn, Belgian Congo (now Zaire), ca. 1925. Sable antelope horn covered with hide sewn along the inner curve. Horns made from antelope horns are common in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Joe R. & Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999. NMM 7176.
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24) Hunting horn, Italian East Africa (now Ethiopia), ca. 1925. Wood, ornamented with three pieces of skin from goat legs, including hooves. Interesting embouchure with a second small hole at the narrow end that can be stopped with one's thumb. Joe R. & Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999. NMM 7269. |
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25) Hunting horn, eastern Africa, ca. 1925. Two pieces of wood, hollowed out and held together with cloth and covered with goat skin, neatly sewn on. Interesting embouchure hole with the air going out the side. Joe R. & Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999. NMM 7270. |
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26) Hunting horn (baragumu), Kenya or Tanganyika (now Tanzania), ca. 1925. Side-blown horn made from the twisted horn of the kudu antelope, with a carved, integral embouchure at the narrow end. Played by antelope hunters during the ritual held before their departure on the next hunt. Owned by an English collector before World War II. His initials, WMS, are painted in black on the bell. Arne B. Larson Estate, 1988. NMM 4994. |
27) Tube zither (valiha), Madagascar, ca. 1925. Cane, with the strings raised from the outer layer of the cane. One of the most important Madagascan instruments, played by plucking the strings with one's fingers, the concept came originally from southeast Asia. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 1253.
28) Natural trumpet (nafīr), Fès, Morocco, ca. 1975. Brass, with embossed designs around the bell. Three sections. Integral mouthpiece. Exhibited at the World of Islam Festival, London, in 1976. Board of Trustees, 1980. NMM 2749.
29) Double-reed woodwind (sorna), Iran, ca. 1950. Stained fruit-wood body with seven fingerholes, brass pirouette, and double reed formed from a flattened cylinder of grass. Played in villages for weddings, in cities from towers at sundown and for religious dramas, and by wandering minstrels. Sent by donor's sister, Eleanor Engeman McNair, missionary in Iran, 1949-1954. Gift of Tom Engeman, Sibley, IA, 1976. NMM 1426.
30) Double-reed woodwind (algaita), Nigeria or savannah area of western Africa, ca. 1925. Three-part (cylindrical/conical) wood body covered with leather. Four finger holes, typical of the instrument in Nigeria, where the player presses his lips against the disc and uses his cheeks as an air reservoir, so that the instrument can be blown continuously. Ex coll.: Phillip Bate, London. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 1293.
31) Single-reed woodwind (zummāra), western Asia, ca. 1950. Two, three-part cane pipes, each with a downbeating single reed cut from the cane, remaining attached at the top end. Pipes are played in unison, tuned just slightly apart to produce a pungent sound. Collected by Eleanor Engeman McNair, while in Iran as a missionary, 1949-1954. Gift of Tom Engeman, Sibley, Iowa, 1976. NMM 1425.
32) Frame drum (duff), Egypt, ca. 1880-1900. Wood shell inlaid with triangular and lozenge-shaped bone, mother-of-pearl, and ebony. Five pairs of jingling brass discs. Previously owned by Miss Gridley, England, who lent it to a Missionary Exhibition at an uncertain time and place. Board of Trustees, 1978. NMM 2408.
33) Frame drum (duff), Syria, 19th century. Wood shell that has been passed through a wood-bending mangle, the thinning of the wood at the overlap being typical in Syrian and Turkish frame drums. Triangular inlaid patterns in bone, ebony, and mother-of-pearl, with stringing in lead or tin around the circumference. Five pairs of jingling brass discs. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 2426.
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34) Lute (quwaytara), Algeria, late 19th century. Richly inlaid and veneered with rosewood, contrasting woods, mother-of-pearl, and bone. Rose is carved from the same wood as the table, with a six-pointed star (Star of David) and a series of interlocking circles, as seen in early-17th-century Italian lutes. This and similar instruments at the Royal College of Music, London, and the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, have more in common with the European lute, which descended from such instruments, than does the 'ud. Beede Fund, 1978. NMM 2380. |
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35) Short-necked lute ('ud), Iraq or Syria, ca. 1850-1900. An intricate, finely carved cypress rose, the pattern resembling a series of arrowheads radiating from the center with two concentric circles and an outer border of arabesques and "fleurs de lys." The 'ud is the great instrument of Arabic classical music. Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979. NMM 1512. |
36) Long-necked lute (rewap), Uighur peoples (of Turkish descent), Eastern Turkistan (now Singkiang province, China), ca. 1990. Body and curved barbs (resembling ram's horns) hollowed out of one piece of mulberry wood, inlaid with bone and colored wood. Belly covered with snakeskin. Child-size. Ex coll.: Gerald Trimble, Kansas City. Board of Trustees, 2000. NMM 9932.
37) Long-necked lute (rewap), Uighur peoples, Kashgar, Eastern Turkistan (now Singkiang province, China), ca. 1990. Nearly all inhabitants speak Turkic languages. Turkistan has been the bridge connecting the East and West, the route taken by many conquerors and migrating people. It marks the eastern edge of Turkic Islamic culture and music. Ex coll.: Gerald Trimble, Kansas City. Board of Trustees, 2000. NMM 9931.
38) Long-necked lute (dutar), Uighur peoples, Eastern Turkistan (Singkiang province, China), ca. 1990. The necks of these instruments are hollow, providing a secondary sound chamber. Elaborately decorated with inlaid black colored wood and white bone geometric figures. Ex coll.: Gerald Trimble, Kansas City. Board of Trustees, 2000. NMM 9934.
39) Long-necked lute (tanbur), Uighur peoples, Eastern Turkistan (Singkiang province, China), ca. 1990. Child-size. No pegbox since the five pegs are inserted directly into the extended neck. Elaborately decorated. Ex coll.: Gerald Trimble, Kansas City. Board of Trustees, 2000. NMM 9933.
40) Long-necked lute (pandchtar), Uighur peoples, Eastern Turkistan (Singkiang province, China), ca. 1990. A photograph at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford shows the same kind of lute being played by a man astride a mule in Tadzhikistan. This instrument is but a later example of a long-standing tradition of building such instruments throughout the vast area from Turkey to western China. Board of Trustees, 1994. NMM 5725.
41) Long-necked lute (dambura or Ashik baglama saz) by Recep Kirrci (d. 1995), founder of the family firm, Sark Saz Yapim Evi, Ankara, Turkey, ca. 1990. Pear-shaped body, probably of chestnut, is elegantly inlaid with metal and pearloid or abalone. Ex coll.: Gerald Trimble, Kansas City. Board of Trustees, 2000. NMM 10019.
42) Long-necked lute (chonguri), Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, ca. 1990. Four strings, a deep pear-shaped body, and a long neck with tied frets. Cultivated chiefly by women, who play it to accompany their own singing and for dancing. A rather plain example, given to Gerald Trimble as a gift from Georgian conservatory students in 1992, during the fighting between the first elected president, Zviadh Gamsakhurdia, and Edward Shevardnadze, who took power in a military coup. Ex coll.: Gerald Trimble, Kansas City. Board of Trustees, 2000. NMM 9939.
43) Long-necked lute (dut tār), Azerbaijan, ca. 1990. A Caucasian instrument, which differs from the Iranian (Persian) examples. Carved, waisted body of mulberry, the top covered with a membrane of fish skin or bladder of a bull, on which the bridge rests. The instrument is held almost horizontally against the upper chest and shaken slightly to produce a vibrating sound. Ex coll.: Gerald Trimble, Kansas City. Board of Trustees, 2000. NMM 9936.
44) Hammered dulcimer (santūr) by Sarkhosh, Tehrān, Iran, 1969. A trapezoidal box of walnut with two soundholes in the form of stars or flowers. Eighteen quadruple courses of wire strings. Pair of hammers (mezrāb) made of fig-tree wood by Zandi. Bought new in 1969 by Bijan Zaeri, Tehrān, who studied with Mr. Nouri in Tehrān. Board of Trustees, 1976. NMM 1496.
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45) Goblet drum (zarb or dombak), Iran (Persia), ca. 1925. Clay drum with goatskin head. Four figurative panels, after the Savafid style, depict scenes of feasting beneath leafy trees. The subjects on one are a lute (tār) player and two gossiping ladies, the panel opposite with a male servant offering wine to two seated men. A lady in the panel on the stem holds a wine flask and inclines her head towards a seated man drinking wine. The gulbulbul—a rose and nightingale motif found in all the arts of Persia—appears in several places. A wreath of large roses encircles the foot of the drum. Purchase funds gift of Barnes and Usher Abell, Vermillion, 1978. NMM 2424. |
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46) Long-necked lute (tār), Iran (Persia), ca. 1925. Sharply waisted wood resonator is painted with figurative panels on a green ground depicting lovers playing the tār and holding wine cups, lions hunting various prey, and roosters and other birds against a floral background. The horn bridge rests on the thin skin of a lamb's fetus. Built probably as a decorative piece, rather than for playing. Purchase funds gift of Barnes and Usher Abell, Vermillion, 1978. NMM 2420. |
47) Spike fiddle (kamānche) and bow (archet or kamān), Iran (Persia), ca. 1925. A bowed stringed instrument used to play Persian classical music, coming to the country during the reign of Mozaffar-ed-Din-Shah (1898-1907). May have been decorated by the same hand as the goblet drum (45), so similar are the arabesque and floral designs and, to a lesser extent, the figurative panels. Purchase funds gift of Barnes and Usher Abell, Vermillion, 1978. NMM 2422.
