Wooden drum used on the Sea Islands, South Carolina: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A wooden drum covered with stretched leather hide that has been attached to drum body with nine wooden pegs. Two carved, anthropomorphized face motifs are on opposite sides of the upper half of the drum body. The edges of face motifs have been sealed with a darker adhesive material. There are three bands running the circumference of the drum. The top band closest to the drum head, is stained darker than the rest of the drum body. There is a carved piece that extends from the darker band. It has a round drill hole that had been threaded through with a leather thong. This piece has been stained the same color as the bank. The middle band is directly below the top band and above the face motifs. It is the same color as the rest of the body. The bottom band is a carved triangular pattern between two parallel lines. The bottom band is located near the base of the drum, above a piece of hide wrapped and tied around the very bottom of the drum body. There is a nail visible in drum body interior.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 19th century
• Created by: Unidentified
• Type: drums (membranophones)
• Medium: wood, leather, hide and metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 38 3/4 × 15 × 15 in., 28 lb. (98.4 × 38.1 × 38.1 cm, 12.7 kg)
• Dimensions: Diameter: 14 15/16 in. (38 cm)
• Place collected: Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States, Lowcountry, North and Central America
• Cultural Place: United States, Sea Islands, North and Central America
• Cultural Place: West Africa, Africa
• Cultural Place: Central Africa, Africa
• Topic: African American
• Topic: African diaspora
• Topic: Associations and institutions
• Topic: Folklife
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Slavery
• Topic: Societies
• Topic: Spirituality
• Object number: 2014.122.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.