JEWS HARP 384538

Description: Incomplete Post-Medieval (1500-1800) Jews Harp, missing its iron tongue. It is lozenge-shaped in cross-section, measuring 51.90mm in length, 23.96mm in max width and 5.50mm in max thickness. It weighs 8.33g. The mouth end is oval in shape (internal 15.28.x11.64mm). The jews harp, or trump, is an ancient folk instrument with a wide geographical distribution. It is indigenous to South-east Asia, and was certainly introduced to Europe by the time of the Crusades…The European jews harp, familiar today, is made of metal, usually iron, and the tongue is a separate component hammered into a rabbet in the thickest part of the frame. At its other end the tongue is bent into a prong, but this rarely survives in archaeological contexts. In play, the instrument is held in one hand and the frame is lightly supported between the player’s teeth, while the metal tongue is plucked with the fingers on the other hand. The mouth cavity acts as a resonator and the pitch is modified by the position of the lips, tongue and cheeks (Egan, G. 1998.”The Medieval Household Daily Living c. 1150 - c. 1450”, p.284). Jews Harps were current from the Medieval period right up until the 18th century (and are still used in specialist folk music circles today), but Medieval examples are rare.

Date: 1500 - 1800

Object type: JEWS HARP

Last import: August 15, 2017