The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ūd

Date:: 1977
Geography:: Cairo, Egypt
Medium:: Wood, various materials
Dimensions:: L. 82 cm (32-5/16 in.); W. 38.7 cm (15-1/4 in.); D. 21 cm (8-1/4 in.)
Classification:: Chordophone-Lute
Credit Line:: Gift of Mrs. Harold H. Krechmer, in memory of her husband, Harold H. Krechmer, 1982
Accession Number:: 1982.143.1

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 681

Description

This elaborately decorated instrument is a modern version of the Arab lute, whose history in the Near East reaches back to the 7th century. The Ud is the ancestor of Europe's lute, which in turn influenced other, later European instruments.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Marking: (paper label) Les fils de/Gamil Georges/168, Rue Kalaa (Mohamed Aly) Caire/Achat et vente/toutes sortes d'instruments/de musique reparations/ en tout genres 1977(?) (also in Arabic).
See also
Who
Les fils de Gamil Georges (1)
What
Musical instruments (5,241)

Chordophones (1,444)

Lutes (698)
Where
Africa (33,501)

Egypt (29,889)

Cairo (315)
When
A.D. 1900-present (77,516)
In the Museum
Musical Instruments (5,221)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
The Lute

Egypt and North Africa, 1900 A.D.–present