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Lyre (rotte, after 5th to 7th-century German type)
late 19th century
Object Place: England
Medium/Technique
Oak
Dimensions
Height 78.5 cm, width 17.3 cm, depth 2.8 cm (Height 30 7/8 in., width 6 13/16 in., depth 1 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.1767
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionShallow box of oak with two extended arms, made of one piece of oak, hollowed at the lower half; thin oaken sound-board. Separate yoke joined with arms and held by oaken pins. Two narrow slits at the junction of the sound-board and arms for affixing the supporting cord which was attached to the arm of the player. Six gut strings, lower-end fastening type, attached to the boss projecting from the body; frontal type fastening of tuning ends; iron tuning pins inserted into the yoke, anterior type. Movable bridge. The original is in the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin.
ProvenanceFrancis W. Galpin (1858-1945), Hatfield Regis, England; 1916, sold by Francis W. Galpin to William Lindsey (1858-1922), Boston, Massachusetts; 1916, gift of William Lindsey, in memory of his daughter, Leslie Lindsey Mason, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 5, 1916)