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Lute (shamisen) and plectrum
before 1820
Object Place: Japan
Medium/Technique
Persimmon wood, shitan wood, cat skin, ivory
Dimensions
Length 96 cm, width 19.4 cm, depth 8.8 cm (Length 37 13/16 in., width 7 5/8 in., depth 3 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Frederick Brown Fund and William Lindsey Fund, by exchange
Accession Number1992.62a-b
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionLacquerd hardwood body; neck and pegboard carved from one solid piece. Sides of body, base of neck, and back of pegboard decorated with various outdoor scences. At bottom of the body is metal plate in figure of boat, around which woven silk tailpiece is hooked. Belly and back of catskin. Includes tortoiseshell plectrum, cloth cover, and original hardwood case with various inscriptions.
InscriptionsThe case has various inscriptions
ProvenanceBy May 1820, Matsudaira, Lord of Shinano Province, present-day Nagano Prefecture, Japan. By 1992, sold by Hinata Antiques, Tokyo, Japan, to Tony Bingham, London, England; 1992, sold by Bingham to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 25, 1992)
Sagimusume, 1792
Composed by Yoshiharu Fujita
Performed by Sumie Kaneko on a nagauta shamisen, made by Fukumiya Shamisen, Tokyo (Asagaya), Japan, 1992