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Frame drum (wewetowah)
Native American, possibly Ute or Shoshone
before 1899
Object Place: Wyoming, United States, Great Basin
Medium/Technique
Wood, animal skin
Dimensions
Height 8 cm, diameter 26.4 cm (Height 3 1/8 in., diameter 10 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.2242
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Membranophones
DescriptionShallow shell constructed of thin wood with lapped seam tied together with leather laces. Thick skin head tied to shell with leather laces strung through holes near lower edge of side. Faded dark red ring (diameter 95 mm) painted at center of head.
InscriptionsIn ink on side: 203787 / E. GRANIER
ProvenanceBetween about 1884 and 1892, probably acquired in Wyoming by Emile Granier (b. 1829 - d. 1908/1909), Paris [see note]; November, 1899, sold by Granier to the United States National Museum (Smithsonian Institution), Washington, DC (cat. no. 203,787; accession no. 34,005); exchanged by the U.S. National Museum with Francis W. Galpin (b. 1858 - d. 1945), Hatfield Regis, England; 1916, sold by Francis W. Galpin to William Lindsey (b. 1858 - d. 1922), Boston; 1916, gift of William Lindsey to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 5, 1916)
NOTE: The drum is inscribed with Granier's name. Emile Granier was a French-born mining engineer. The Shoshone tribe reservation included parts of the South Pass mining district in Wyoming, where he worked between 1884 and 1892. See Bruce J. Noble, "The South Pass Mining Misadventures of Emile Granier," Wyoming Annals 65, no. 4 (1993): pp. 48-61.
NOTE: The drum is inscribed with Granier's name. Emile Granier was a French-born mining engineer. The Shoshone tribe reservation included parts of the South Pass mining district in Wyoming, where he worked between 1884 and 1892. See Bruce J. Noble, "The South Pass Mining Misadventures of Emile Granier," Wyoming Annals 65, no. 4 (1993): pp. 48-61.