322.11 Arched harps

Arched harp. The body is one segment of giant bamboo, with wooden neck and soundboard made from a biscuit tin. With six nylon guitar strings from Bangkok, purchased by the collector, Jonathan Hugh-Jones.

The collector, Jonathan Hugh-Jones, describes the Karen maker of this harp in the chapter entitled 'Great Lake and the Elephant Man' his book 'True Love & Bartholomew' (Cambridge: 1991), which he wrote under his pen-name, Jonathan Falla. The maker looked after elephants, and his name translated as 'Red Star'. Jonathan Hugh-Jones notes that this Karen harp is rather a rare type, and is not much used by the Karen now. It is played as an accompaniment to a genre of short, pithy songs.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
2013.199
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 661 mm x 517 mm x 156 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
bamboo; tin; nylon; tin; nylon; wood
CATEGORY
Musical Instruments
SHAREABLE LINK

Continue exploring musical instruments

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database retains language taken from historical documents to help research. Please note that some records may feature language and reflect systems of thinking that are outdated and offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections, can suggest corrections to our information or if you see content requiring immediate action, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk