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Arched harp (kundi)
Mangbetu people
late 19th century
Object Place: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Medium/Technique
Wood, cowhide
Dimensions
Length 57 cm, width 14.5 cm (Length 22 7/16 in., 5 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Helen and Alice Colburn Fund and William E. Nickerson Fund
Accession Number1994.194
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAfrica and Oceania, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionWaisted boat-shaped body of wood wrapped with animal skin, held in place by single line of leather stitching along back. Two circular soundholes at opposite corners of sound table. Arched neck of wood terminating in carved elongated head of man with eyes made from white seed beads. Five strings of gut attached to lateral tuning pegs of wood (one later addition) and tied to strip of wood running beneath sound table. Painted in white at base of neck: FX93365
ProvenanceBefore 1994, said to come from "an old colonial collection." By 1994, Marc Leo Felix (dealer), Brussels; 1994, sold by Felix to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 22, 1994)