SOLD

Drum (kundu), Papua New Guinea, late 19th century. Very early example. Field Collected by Dr. Isadore Brodsky (1905– 1975), the clinical collector par excellence, around 1920s.  Wooden hourglass drum with lizard skin head  tympanum attached with bound cordage. Kundu drums accompany dances and can be played either by the dancers themselves or other musicians. The drum is held in the middle and struck with the other hand.

Length: 49 cm (19.5 inches).

Some age cracks, vestige of red & white ochre & reckitts blue decoration in engraved design.

US $450.

Brodsky, Isadore. 1943. Congenital Abnormalities, Teratology and Embryology: Some evidence of Primitive Mans’ Knowledge as Expressed in Art & Lore in Oceania. The Medical Journal of Australia. May 8 ,1943. p417-429. Sydney NSW.