Trough zither

Description

wood, shiny reddish brown patina, remains of black paint, trough-shaped corpus, pierced on top and at the bottom for fixing the strings, crowned by a human head with long neck, min. dam., strings missing, fissures, slight traces of abrasion;
the strings across the soundbox are not individual but consist of a single long thin woven twisted fibre thread that is wound around the whole soundbox and spans its length, resting in notches at either end. This instrument and its music was, and still is, intended for a limited audience which in the past would have consisted of the king (“mwami”) and his entourage of dignitaries and women.