Object Name - Saùng-Gauk
Date - 19th century
Geography - Mandalay?, Myanmar (formerly Burma)
Medium- Wood, various materials
Dimensions - H. 89.7 cm.; W: 87 cm.; D. 20.5 cm. for details see acc. card.ClassificationChordophone-HarpCredit LineThe Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889Accession Number89.4.1465 a, b
Date - 19th century
Geography - Mandalay?, Myanmar (formerly Burma)
Medium- Wood, various materials
Dimensions - H. 89.7 cm.; W: 87 cm.; D. 20.5 cm. for details see acc. card.ClassificationChordophone-HarpCredit LineThe Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889Accession Number89.4.1465 a, b
Description
This richly decorated arched harp has 13 twisted silk strings of varying diameter. Each string connects to a gold-painted stringholder which runs the length of the gold-lacquered deerskin belly. The strings are secured to the neck with red-twisted cotton cords (tuning rings), which end with a gold colored metallic tassel. The sides of the instrument depict scenes from the Ramayana in gold against a black field. Often used to accompany songs, instruments like this one had their orgins in ancient India and represent one of the oldest surviving harp traditions.
* This information may change as the result of ongoing research.
This entry was posted
on Apr 22, 2010
at Thursday, April 22, 2010
and is filed under
Mandalay/Last Dynasty of Burma
. You can follow any responses to this entry through the
comments feed
.
