The body of this lamellaphone is a rectangular box which is the resonator of the instrument, amplifying the sound. The seven lamellae or keys are made from bamboo or cane, rounded at the ends and arranged in an irregular v shape, the lowest note in pitch being the centre lamella. The original Horniman records are: "Zanzee, a wooden box with 7 wooden splints. Africa? Bought in a sale at Steven's", an auction house in Covent Garden.
122.12 Lamellaphones with laced-on or hooked-in lamellae with resonator
Continue exploring musical instruments
412.132-62 Sets of free reeds with flexible air reservoir
321.312-71 Spike box lutes or spike guitars sounded by bowing with a bow
clarinet
samples from piano
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The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive.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 or can suggest corrections to our information, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk