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Description: | A fragment of a post-Medieval cast copper-alloy Jews harp (c. 1500-c. 1800).Less than half of the instrument survives due to a break.The surviving part of the head and the complete tapering arm are characteristically lozenge-shaped in cross-section. Where the arm joins the head it has a width of 4.25mm. The surfaces are drab green with a patchy green patina. There are no file marks and the break is old. The iron prong that was plucked to produce a note is missing.Length: 51.74mm; width: 12.86mm; thickness: 6.70mm. Weight: 5.79g.Geoff Egan, formerly of The Museum of London has commented on Medieval Jews harps: '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'. 284. London: The Stationery Office. Similar examples are illustrated in Bailey, G, 1993, 'Detector Finds 2', 76-77, refs: 4-6. Bailey (page 76) suggests that these examples date to the eighteenth century.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.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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