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Sanxian
Alternate name:San-hsien
Alternate name:Long-neck lute
Date: 1850-1875 ca.
Place Made:China, Asia
Serial No: none
SignedCarved ivory insert on backside of peghead. Translation forthcoming.
DescriptionThree strings. Bent, wooden neck; resonator covered with python skin. Carved ivory tailpiece. Peghead plaque depicts garden scene. Hand-carved bat effigies on peghead and endpiece. Many cultures in Southeast Asia regard the bat as a harbinger of good luck. Floral, mother-of-pearl inlay on neck and resonator. The sanxian’s use in accompanying narrative song and as a low voice in ensemble playing has guaranteed its role in Chinese music tradition.
ProvenancePreviously owned by an unidentified elderly couple in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who purchased this instrument, along with several others, to be played for therapeutic reasons. By 1976, all were sold to William Gribbon, Greenfield, Massachusetts, who sold this instrument to the NMM.
Terms
Credit Line: Rawlins Fund, 1976
Not on view
Published References“New Gallery Being Developed at USD,” Newsletter of the American Musical Instrument Society Vol. IV, No. 3 (October 1977), p. 4.
“Gallery IV Development Underway,” Shrine to Music Museum, Inc. Newsletter 5, No. 1 (October 1977), p. 1.
“Documentary Film Features the Shrine to Music Museum,” Shrine to Music Museum, Inc. Newsletter 8, No. 1 (October 1980), p. 2.
The Music Connection, (Parsippeany, New Jersey: Silver Burdett Ginn), 1995, p. 366.
“Gallery IV Development Underway,” Shrine to Music Museum, Inc. Newsletter 5, No. 1 (October 1977), p. 1.
“Documentary Film Features the Shrine to Music Museum,” Shrine to Music Museum, Inc. Newsletter 8, No. 1 (October 1980), p. 2.
The Music Connection, (Parsippeany, New Jersey: Silver Burdett Ginn), 1995, p. 366.
Object number: 01432