Skip Navigation

Five-stringed Harp (Kundi)

Arts of Africa

CULTURE Mangbetu
MEDIUM Snakeskin, wood, copper wire, fiber
DATES late 19th or early 20th century
DIMENSIONS 10 x 13 1/2 x 4 1/4 in. (25.4 x 34.3 x 10.8 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
ACCESSION NUMBER 22.869
CREDIT LINE Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Viol shaped wooden resonator covered with snake skin. Two round openings are found on the anterior surface of the resonator. The neck of the harp is undecorated and polished. 5 peg holes are found on the neck. Pegs are missing 1 broken copper wire still remains on resonator. Condition: Snake skin pieces separated, much of stiching is broken.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Mangbetu. Five-stringed Harp (Kundi), late 19th or early 20th century. Snakeskin, wood, copper wire, fiber, 10 x 13 1/2 x 4 1/4 in. (25.4 x 34.3 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.869. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.22.869_bottom_PS5.jpg)
IMAGE bottom, CUR.22.869_bottom_PS5.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.