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Xylophone (gambang kayu)
1840
Object Place: Central Java, Indonesia
Medium/Technique
Teak
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by Mr. and Mrs. Bradford M. Endicott and Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Fraser in honor of Jan and Suzanne Fontein, and the Frank B. Bemis Fund
Accession Number1990.580
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Idiophones
DescriptionCarved red painted wood trough resonator case in the shape of an inverted trapezoid. Elaborately pierce carved wings with foliate design surrounded by sea serpent Naga rise from each end. Twenty hardwood keys rest on rope cushions on the edges of the open top and are located by pairs of narrow metal pins. A bronze handle survives at bass end. (slendro tuning)
Provenance1840, slendro-tuned ensemble commissioned by Chinese patron, Central Java. After 1840, Priyo family, the Bupati (regent) of Blora, Central Java; about 1876, pelog-tuned ensemble commissioned and combined with 1840s ensemble, Central Java; by 1990, by descent through three generations of the Priyo family to Mr. and Mrs. Supriyo, Blora, Central Java, Indonesia; July 12, 1990, sold by Supriyo to Nyonya Nora, Surakarta, Indonesia; 1990, sold by Nyonya Nora to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 24, 1990)