Images from The Beede Gallery

Plucked Lamellaphone (Sansa), Gbaya tribe, Cameroon, ca. 1950

Click on any image on this page to see a larger view.

NMM 4173.  Plucked lamellaphone (sansa), Gbaya tribe, western grasslands region of Cameroon, ca. 1950. Anthropomorphic shape. The black, sooty exterior and smokey smell of this sansa indicate that it was once used and kept in a hut where it was exposed to in-house cooking fires. Hair is carved to look like it is pulled back, almost to a point, typical of the Gbaya people. The nine wood tongues (lamellae) are depressed and released to make music. Overall length: ca. 19"; width: ca. 5.5"; depth: ca. 3.25".  Gift of Verna Syverson, Cameroon, 1987.

Verna Syverson acquired this instrument while she was a missionary in Meiganga, Cameroon. She subsequently donated it to the NMM in 1987, noting that this sansa was a type "regularly used in the area where I am working."

  Click arrow to continue Beede Gallery Tour

Go to Beede Gallery Tour Index

Go to Virtual Gallery Tour Index

Go to Checklist of Musical Instruments from Sub-Saharan Africa

National Music Museum
The University of South Dakota
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD   57069

©National Music Museum, 2006-2008
Most recent update:   December 3, 2008
You are the 665th visitor to this page since April 3, 2006

The University of South Dakota
Return to Top of Page