Thumb Piano

Bamun Large Sanza

Cameroon Grasslands
Bamun

Wood, Cane, Fiber
ca. Mid-20th century

Height: 21cm x Length: 56cm x Width: 26cm
Idiophone - Plucked - Lamellophone

Beautifully large carved thumb piano with bamboo tongues, from the Bamun (or Bamileke) People of Cameroon. The earliest thumb pianos in Africa appeared at least 3000 years ago in West Africa. It had bamboo keys (tongues)and were referred to as kalimba. Metal (tongue) lamellophones appeared later, around 1,300 years ago in the Zambezi River Valley. Today, according to the regions of their origin, these instruments are known by many different names: Mbira, Mbila, Hurdy Gurdy, Marimba, Karimba, Kalimba, Likembe, Sanza, and Okeme. Larger lamellophones from Africa, also called kalimba, appear in the Caribbean Islands and are called marimbula.

Owner:
Catalog#: AF-IDPL-2-32

© Hartenberger World Music Collection