Description (Labels & Markings)
Thomas label adhered to gourd reads: '499 | 354 / Musical Instrument (ubo aku); bamboo with gourd sounder. / Enugu'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card: Flat oblong of bamboo sticks attached by crossed bars of same
[different hand] This is a musical instrument of bamboo with gourd sounder
[different hand, in pencil] Raft zither
Event Date
Author: maa

Context (Related Documents)
See E 1910.118 and E 1913.3 records for further details about the Thomas Collection from Nigeria.
Event Date 7/5/2001
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Related Documents)
The 2nd Thomas Catalogue, p.15, notes numbers 354-376 as Enugu.
Event Date 4/9/2001
Author: maa

Context (Amendments / updates)
Record updated as part of the Museum Affordances project 2018-2020

Event Date 5/10/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Zither-type musical instrument made from bamboo, cane and gourd. The body of the zither is formed from lengths of bamboo tied together with strips of cane. Thin strips of the bamboo have been been wrapped and used as strings, held away from the body using two lengths of bamboo laid perpendicularly across the body. The resonating chamber is provided by a hollow gourd, open at the top and tied to the bottom of the instrument with a piece of striped fabric. A length of cane, presumably used to pluck the string with, is stored at the bottom of the instrument.
Event Date 5/10/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Other)
During the collections-based phase of the Museum Affordances Project 2018, a photograph of this object was shared on the project Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/reentanglements/).
In a post on 06/10/18, Paul Basu wrote: 'Many of our excursions in the museum store start with a field photograph taken by N. W. Thomas over 100 years ago. This intriguing object turned out to be a musical instrument, which Thomas labelled 'ubo aku'. Thomas collected it in Enugu Ukwu, SE of Awka. He collected a similar instrument in Awgbu, but without the gourd resonator, which he labelled 'obo iko'. According to an article by the Nigerian ethnomusicologist Joy Lo-Bamijoko these fall into the 'iku' category of musical instruments, whose hard surfaces are hit with beaters. This category does include, however, the 'ubo-aka' or thumb piano, examples of which Thomas also collected, which are plucked. Elsewhere, instruments of this kind are referred to in English as 'raft zithers'.'
In a comment, Ikenna Emma Onwuegbuna wrote: 'Ubo-iko (zithers with metal cup resonator), ubo-oba (with gourd resonator), ubo-aka (so called thump piano with calabash or wooden box resonator), ubo-akwala, and une. All but ubo-aka are different types of stringed musical instruments that are found in the Igbo region of Nigeria. '

Event Date 26/11/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Oboiko. Zither-type musical instrument made from bamboo, cane and gourd. The body of the zither is formed from lengths of bamboo tied together with strips of cane. Thin strips of the bamboo have been been wrapped and used as strings, held away from the body using two lengths of bamboo laid perpendicularly across the body. The resonating chamber is provided by a hollow gourd, open at the top and tied to the bottom of the instrument with a piece of striped fabric.
Event Date 25/10/2021
Author: Annie Tomkins