211.312 Double-skin frame drums

Modern frame drum (dah) with crooked beater (dahjupha).

The drum is suspended from the ceiling of the gompa, monastery, and is tied from below to stabilise it when it is struck with the beater, like the frame drum dah (2005.159), in Buddhist ritual contexts. A photograph of the drum in use within a gompa in the Tawang district, taken by the collector, shows it struck on the head adjacent to the wing nuts. This side drum may be based on mid -19th to early 20th century screw-tensioned British side drums used in military bands; see the snare drum by Hawkes & Son, Horniman Museum number 2004.1065.

Collection Information

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