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Xiao sanxian

Alternate name(s)

Long-neck spike box lute
Small sanxian

Maker House of Melody

Date1910 ca.

Place MadeJiangnan area, China, Asia

Serial No.none

SignedName of individual maker or company represented by three Chinese characters printed on the paper label on the front of the finial. (Part of first character missing.)
Literal translation: "Melodious two-storey building" i.e. "The House of Melody"
MarkingsPaper label printed with Chinese characters glued onto the front of the finial.
DescriptionThe body consists of a hardwood shell of oval profile, with veneer applied in three sections to the convex sides. The flat table and back have curved edges, and are at the center. They are covered with a piece of snakeskin (python?) with a paper backing which is glued to the wood, and encircled by a narrow brass rim. An integral spike extends from the redwood neck, passing through rectangular slots in the proximal and distal ends of the shell, and terminating in a two-pronged foot. The neck extends to a peg-box in the form of a rectangular frame, with six lateral holes for three perforate conical fluted wooden pegs with hexagonal fluting on the upper sections. A small wooden upper bridge is fixed to the neck just below the pegs. The finial flares backwards towards a scroll, consisting of a single whorl carved from a separate piece of wood.
A small, broken ivory tail-piece is attached to the wire strings.
DimensionsOver all length: 798 mm
Over all width: 140 mm
Over all depth: 70 mm
Height of upper bridge: 4 mm
ProvenanceArne B. Larson Collection, Vermillion, South Dakota, 1979.

Credit LineArne B. Larson Collection, 1979

Object number05637

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