Musical Instruments: Highlights of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Moore, J. Kenneth, Jayson Kerr Dobney, and E. Bradley Strauchen-Scherer

2015

192 pages

166 illustrations

Foreword Reviews' Book of the Year Award, Bronze Winner in Performing Arts & Music (2015)

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Table of contents

About the authors

Praise

This insightful appreciation of musical instruments features more than one hundred extraordinary pieces from the Metropolitan Museum’s collection. Whether created to entertain a royal court, provide personal solace, or aid in rites and rituals, these instruments fully demonstrate music’s universal resonance and the ingenuity various cultures have deployed for musical expression. The results are astoundingly diverse: from Bronze Age cymbals and sistra to violins made by Stradivari, monumental slit drums from Oceania, and iconic twentieth-century American guitars. Stunning new photographs and a lively text reveal these objects to be works of both musical and visual art, as well as marvels of technology and masterpieces of design. Depictions of instruments and music making—paintings, statues, and pottery—further illuminate the narrative, providing a vivid counterpoint to these remarkable objects.

Met Art in Publication

Dressing Room for Musicians at a Theater (Shitakubeya), Katsushika Hokusai Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — Dressing Room for Musicians at a Theater (Shitakubeya)
Katsushika Hokusai

Female Musicians, Limestone, paint — Female Musicians
ca. 1353–1336 B.C.

Joint Landscape, Shen Zhou Chinese, Handscroll; ink on paper, China — Joint Landscape
Shen Zhou
ca. 1509 and 1546

Merry Company on a Terrace, Jan Steen Dutch, Oil on canvas — Merry Company on a Terrace
Jan Steen
ca. 1670

Self-Portrait with a Harp, Rose Adélaïde Ducreux French, Oil on canvas — Self-Portrait with a Harp
Rose Adélaïde Ducreux
1791

Sistrum (rattle), Copper alloy, Hattian — Sistrum (rattle)
ca. 2300–2000 BCE

Sistrum Inscribed with the Names of King Teti, Travertine (Egyptian alabaster), pigment, resin — Sistrum Inscribed with the Names of King Teti
ca. 2323–2291 B.C.

Sistrum with a dedication referring to a king, Silver — Sistrum with a dedication referring to a king
332–30 B.C.

Relief from the South Wall of a Chapel of Ramesses I, Limestone — Relief from the South Wall of a Chapel of Ramesses I
ca. 1295–1294 B.C.

Arched Harp (shoulder harp), Wood — Arched Harp (shoulder harp)
ca. 1390–1295 B.C.

Figurative Harp (Domu), Wood, hide, twine, brass ring, Mangbetu peoples — Figurative Harp (Domu)
19th–20th century

Pair of Clappers, Hippopotamus ivory — Pair of Clappers
ca. 1353–1336 B.C.

Bell (Yongzhong), Bronze, China — Bell (Yongzhong)
5th–3rd century BCE

Chime bell “Jiazhong”, Gilt bronze, China — Chime bell “Jiazhong”
dated 1715

Drum Tympanum with Star, Bronze, Vietnam (North) (?) — Drum Tympanum with Star
500 BCE–300 CE

Mahōra Thuk (กลองมโหระทึก), Leaded bronze, possibly Thai — Mahōra Thuk (กลองมโหระทึก)
14th–17th century

Drum, Nasca artist(s), Ceramic, slip, Nasca — Drum
Nasca artist(s)
100–400 CE

Drum, Ceramic, polychrome, Paracas — Drum
300–200 BCE

Tibia, Ivory, silver, chalcedony, Syrian — Tibia
ca. 1–500

Showing 20 of 157

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Moore, J. Kenneth, Jayson Kerr Dobney, and E. Bradley Strauchen-Scherer. 2015. Musical Instruments: Highlights of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum Of Art.

Musical Instruments: Highlights of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Met Art in Publication

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