Double Bell

Gabonese

Not on view

Double bells with two clappers in each bell. The pyro-engraved designs decorating this bell also appears as woven or stamped designs on West African textiles.
Instruments made of sonorous materials (idiophones) comprises the largest and most widespread type in sub-Sahara Africa. Names of identical instruments change from region to region. Some instruments and the music linked to them have traveled beyond the African homeland to North and South America and the Caribbean. Idiophones are sounded by shaking (rattle, sistrums), beating together (iron clappers), or striking (xylophones, slit gongs, bells). they reinforce the rhythmic foundation of a piece, provide a melodic line, signal by imitating spoken languages, or perform rhythmic, melodic and communicative roles simultaneously.

Double Bell, Wood, Gabonese

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.