Lyre

East African

Not on view

Decorative lyre made for export. Lyres have two wood or horn arms that project from the body and carry a crossbar to which the upper ends of the strings are fastened. The strings lie nearly parallel to the soundtable. African lyre bodies are made of wood, gourds, tortoise or coconut shells. Most African lyres lack bridges allowing the strings vibrate against the soundtable to create a buzzing sound.

Lyre, Gourd, antelope horns, wood, skin, East African

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.