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Scraped mouth bow (xizambi)
Possibly Tsonga people
19th century
Object Place: Mozambique
Medium/Technique
Wood, gourd
Dimensions
Length 57.8 cm, width 4 cm (Length 22 3/4 in., width 1 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.1701a-b
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionThin, slightly arched stave of wood with shallow notches along center section for 285 mm. Formerly strung with strip of leaf (now missing). Two small spherical fruit shells (gourds), each incised with four crosses and containing small rocks, are pierced by cylindrical stick of wood pointed at both ends and having short loop of string through hole near center. In ink on bow: BEIRA Portugese E. Africa.
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)